Make it Stop
by ForeverMakeBelieve
Summary: Tris Prior is in an accident that kills her entire family, leaving her in foster care. Tris now has to balance being abused by her new foster brother Peter along with high school. With all of that, she also developes feelings for her other foster brother, Four. This is my first fanfiction EVER so please review! ENJOY:)
1. Chapter 1

Tris' pov

It's strange how my life changed within a matter of seconds. And completely heart-breaking to go back to that time, that awful day. One second, I'm on my way to volunteer at the animal shelter with my parents and my older brother Caleb just like we always did every Wednesday, and the next, we're seeing the lights of an eighteen wheeler right in front of us right before we collide.

The next thing I know, I'm being put into the foster care system. I've already gone through six foster families. They never like me. They say I'm too or 'closed off' or 'crazy.' The longest I've been at one is two months. I'm apparently a 'trouble child,' or so they say.

In reality, they just don't like me because I wouldn't speak to them except when it was absolutely neccesary, which was hardly ever. It isn't like I was a challenge for them or anything, I was just labeled as diffucult because they didn't know how to handle my silence and indifference.

Right now, I'm walking with my case worker Johanna to the house I'll be living in until they put me back into the system, just like every time. I'm used to it; they never want to keep me; they just take the money they get for taking me in and kick me out when they decide that I'm not worth it. She thinks this family will be the one that adopts me. She says that every time. But I know the truth: I am simply not worth it, because who could love some unattractive, damaged girl?

I wouldn't want to adopt me either.

I just really hope that this foster home is better than the last ones. I never had any friends or anyone who cared about me after the accident (but, in their defense, I wasn't very open with them either). The foster parents just fed me and then watched tv for the rest of the time, totally ignoring me in the process. It bothered me at first, but I quickly got used to it when I realized that they were all like that, and it wasn't going to change. All of my foster siblings had already made friends and obviously weren't looking for a new one. I just never seemed to fit in anywhere or with anyone. I'm so different from everyone else that no one knows what to do with me, nor do they want to find out. Let's hope that changes. There is a large possibility that I might go crazy if it doesn't; I don't think I could make it through another home without any friends. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm starved of human contact and compassion. It's a huge stretch, but I just want someone to actually care about me, and if they can't do that, they could at least pretend to not hate me. Is that such an awful thing to want?

Is that so _bad?_ That I just want someone to be around?

But I know I'm not worth anyone's time.

We arrive at a giant three story brick house, and it has more than enough beauty to put me in a state of awe, my mouth hanging slack. I knock on the door and am greeted with a tall, dark girl around my age. Her beautiful caramel skin is barely covered with a black crop top and short denim shorts, and the smile on her face is blindingly wide and genuine. That may be the best part about her, that she actually looks happy to see me. She's beautiful. Nothing like me.

I will never be anything like her,so tall and gorgeous. I know I'm not ugly, but I'm not pretty either. I have dull blonde hair that falls past my hips and a small, five foot frame with absolutely no curves to be found. My nose is too long and my light gray eyes are far to big. I could never compete with her long legs and mature body.

"Oh my God! You must be Beatrice. I'm Christina! We're going to be sisters," she shouts excitedly. At least somebody at this one is nice. Maybe having her here will make this a little more bearable.

My name sounds strange coming from her lips. Too grown-up and sophisticated. All of the sudden, the name 'Beatrice' puts a sour taste in my mouth; it reminds me of my family. I might as well change it while I'm here. New place, new name.

And most importantly, no past. At least not for them to know about, anyways.

"Hi. You can call me Tris," I respond shyly. I am not used to someone actually being excited to see me. It's new, but strangely nice.

"Well, why don't we get you inside and you can meet everybody," she says while pulling me by the arm into the house.

She brings me through the foyer while chattering about God- knows- what while I am frantically trying to take in the details of the house.

I finally get a good look at the inside and am impressed with what I see. Hardwood floors, leather furniture, expensive looking art hanging from the walls. Expensive. They must be rich. Well, there's one upside to this. The other foster families didn't have very much money. That was why they took me in in the first place, because they needed money. Maybe since this family isn't needing for money, they actually _want_ me to be here, which is more than I can say for the other families. Them having no money usually also consisted of having no manners. Or decency. Or kindness. I didn't have the best experiences at any of them, obviously.

We enter the kitchen and I am instantly faced with a tall,light haired man. His green eyes are cold and mean, but soften when he sees my case worker. I am immediately weary of him; I'll have to do my best to steer clear of him. Maybe they don't want me here, after all. He introduces himself as Max, not once acknowledging my presence. So far, Christina is the best thing about this place. Obviously Max isn't going be the best of company.

Max finally looks at me acknowledging my presence, but only briefly and with uncaring eyes. It doesn't matter how he looked at me; it wss all for show for Johanna, anyways.

Then he looks at Christina. "Why don't you give Beatrice the grand tour and show her where she will be staying." Code for, 'get her out of here.'

I already don't like him one bit."It's Tris." He just shrugs and turns back to Johanna, my case worker. Maybe it wasn't the best move to be rude to him, but I'm too far past caring about my manners. I've learned that manners are the last thing they care about in foster homes.

I look back to Christina, and she immediately grabs my arm again and starts dragging me farther into the house. She shows me around the house while they talk about my time here. She introduces me to four unreasonably large bathrooms and six empty bedrooms. Some have clothes in them,telling me that there are more foster kids here, but some are completely bare. And they are freaking hugenormous. I could fit like four of my old foster homes in just one room.

I spot a room that must be Christina's. It's pink and zebra and way too girly for me. On the next one, there is a girl on the bed. She has carrot orange hair and a bulbous nose. She's a little on the heavy side and looks like she is ready to bite my head off. Or anyone's head. Christina quietly introduces her as Molly and informs me that she doesn't talk much. Good.

The next bedroom is mine. It has dark blue walls and a deep red bed comforter. It is a little smaller than the rest but is still pretty huge. Way more space than I would ever need and could ever expect. There is a bathroom attached to it and a large flat screen television. It even has posters of my favorite bands:Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, STRFKR, Phoeonix, and Paramore, hanging on the walls. It's amazing,exactly my style. Johanna must have told somebody the things I like. She always asks me my preferences,but the other foster homes either didn't know or simply disregarded them. I highly suspect the latter, but it doesn't matter to me anyways. It isn't like I stayed in any of them for long, but I probably won't stay here for very long either. Max will most likely kick me out before the end of the month anyways.

The next has a large boy around my age with dark hair and green eyes. He has a kind face, but that is quickly forgotten when he looks at me with disgust and closes the door in our faces.

"That was Peter. Don't take it personally, he's always an asshole," she tells me nonchalantly. He looks like he already hates me. That's two in a row:him and Molly.

I simply nod my head. I honestly don't have the thinking capacity right now to deal with them. There are mire pressing matters on my mind, like the fact that I'm worried about staying here with these new people and going to school tomorrow.

After showing me a game room, some more bathrooms, and a lounge, I finally retire to my new room before dinner.

* * *

><p>After unpacking the clothes and family pictures I brought with me, I jump onto my bed and start reading my copy of The Fault in Our Stars. I've read it at least twenty times; it just never gets old.I am interrupted all too soon by Christina telling me that dinner is ready.<p>

I walk back downstairs and sit at the unreasonably large dining table with Max, Molly, Peter, and Christina. Christina fixes me a plate of salad and pasta. Way too much. I'm not really a fan of food at the moment. I just take a couple of bites and move my food around with my fork. I have gone halfway through dinner getting dirty looks from Max, Molly, and Peter. I really don't know what I did to make them hate me, but it's making me uncomfortable.

Just as I'm about to excuse myself from the table, the door swings open to reveal three boys. One of them looks around my age, but the others look little older. I immediately assume the two dark boys are brothers. They are around the same hight and have the same facial features. When they move out of my line of vision and I finally get a good look at the third, and my breathe hitches.

He has dark brown hair and a spare upper lip that compliments his full lower lip. His nose is just a little crooked, like it has been broken before. His shirt is tight enough to reveal his amazing physique and toned muscles, but not tight enough to be showing off. What really draws my attention are his eyes. They are a dark blue as deep as the ocean. A dreaming, sleeping, waiting color. And they are locked directly on mine. I feel like I can't breathe, an then realize that I'm not. I am the first to look away. And I finally take a breath before I pass out from the lack of oxygen.

He's handsome. That's an understatement. He's beautiful. And way out of my league. I can't even see his league from my league. He's totally unnatainable, and I shouldn't waste another second thinking about him. I should be thinking about school tomorrow, but that doesn't stop me from seeing the deep blue of his eyes.

They walk in and head straight towards the bedrooms, avoiding eye contact with everyone else.

"That's Four. He rarely talks to anybody but Zeke and Uriah," Christina whispers to me.

Four. Strange name, but I guess everyone has a reason for everything. I assume Zeke and Uriah are the dark skinned brothers he was with.

I retire to my room for bed after dinner. I change into pajamas and wash my face. I can take a shower in the morning before school. Ugh. School.

* * *

><p>Just as I'm drifting of into sleep, my door creeps open. A large silhouette stops beside my bed and leans into my face.<p>

"Well hello Beatrice," I hear Peter's voice say."I don't like you. The sooner you leave here, the sooner you get away from the living Hell I'm going to make your life from now on."

And with that, he swiftly punches me twice in the stomach, making me double over in pain. I don't have time to react to anything. The room is dark and I was almost asleep. He caught me at my worst time, when I am completely unalert.

He then punches me in the temple. I see black spotting the edges of my vision. I'm going to pass out. Hopefully soon.

I don't know why he is doing this; I barely know him, and I haven't uttered a sylable to him yet. How could he have such a deep hatred for me already?

He won't stop. I can barely make a noise, but I can hear myself whispering, "Stop. Please don't do this."

I know he can hear me, but he is choosing to ignore it. All I hear are his mad- scientist like laughs. Asshole.

The pain is intense. This just hurts so bad, but I can't do anything about it. I am helpless. I am not in control. And that is what scares me the most. I hate that I am void of any control. It hurts worse than the pain Peter is inflicting upon my body.

He relentlessly sends blows into my thighs and upper arms. My armsbody is almost numb,but not qhite, so I can still feel the tourchuous pain. My only thought is,'Not again.' as I finally let the pain send me into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>Hopefully that wasn't too bad for the FIRST CHAPTER OF MY VERY FIRST FANFIC! I've been reading these for forever and I'm so excited to finally be writing one.<strong>

**I can't wait to continue this story because it's going to be AMAZING! I really need y'all to tell me what you think about it, so please review. Whether it is good or bad. I'll take it all into consideration.**

**If you ever have an idea about how I can make it better, please pm me and I will definitely respond as soon as I can.**

**Keep reading this story! I will try to update as often as possible. It might be every three days or once a week. It depends on how quickly I write and how well y'all respond to this story.**

**If you ever have any ideas for the story, please feel free to let me know, I will definately listen.**

**Read on stay classy:)**

**Love Ty:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Tris' POV**

I wake up sweating from yet another nightmare. It's the one same every time. I've been having it for a long time now. Its not really a dream, more of an awful memory. As much as I try to erase it from my mind and never think of it again, no matter what I do, it never seems to get any less potent. As much as I try to erase it from my mind and never think of it again, I won't ever be able to forget what he id to me. What that _monster_ did to me.I think about it all the time. It just keeps coming back to haunt me, and it probably won't ever stop.

My brother's best friend Eric was staying at my house one summer, the whole entire summer. 'Baby sitting' me. He used to sneak into my room to teach me 'lessons', even though I never did anything wrong.

He made sure to damage me in every way possible. Mentally and physically. He filled my head with awful things like how I wasn't worthy of love, and how no one would ever want me. I was just an ugly, small, unattractive girl that was to damaged to even begin to repair.

I eventually began to believe anything he said to me. He got to my head. I'm still struggling to get past the mental and emotional damage that he did to me.

That was the worst summer of my life. The worst _time_ of my life. I never told Caleb or my parents about it because it would have been selfish, and it wouldn't have been right. Our parents always taught selflessness, and it would have crushed Caleb if he knew what Eric was doing to me in the middle of the night or when nobody was around. It was, after all, Caleb's best friend. I was always afraid that he wouldn't believe me even if I got up the nerve to tell him about it, which probably wasn't true, because Caleb always sided with the facts, and I sure as hell could have proven it. I don't know what I would do in Caleb's situation, my best friend harming my sibling in unimaginable ways, so I just figured it was better if he didn't know. I can't imagine the things Eric would have done to me if I told anybody. If they even believed me.

I was never the same after that. I'm still working to get myself completely better, but I'm doubtful that it will ever happen. You can't go through such a traumatizing experience and then fully recover just like that, no matter how much you want to. You can't just simply heal because you tell yourself to heal, you have to work for it. I may not ever fully recover, the fears of things that he did to me run so deep.

I'm almost positive my family knew something was wrong with me. Eating made me sick, therefore I didn't eat. My body was frail and unhealthy from it. I passed out countless times,but I was always in the privacy of my room or bathroom, luckily. My parents would give me odd looks or offer me lots of food, but they always thought it would have been rude to bring it up. A long time ago, I can't help but be a little angry at them for not digging deeper into what I was feeling, but then I felt awful about being mad at them. Because they were my family and I loved them unconditionally,aand I don't have the privelage of knowing them anymore. I still love them, even if they aren't here anymore.

I always kind of hoped in the back of my mind that they would ask me about it, just so I could finally tell someone about it, just to get it off of my chest. I needed someone to cry to and to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay. No one should have to go through it alone.

After they died, I vowed to myself to get healthy. I started eating again, though not as much as I should,and running at least four miles a day. I even got a gym membership where I learned to box.

I practiced basketball and tennis at the park closest to whatever foster family's house I was staying at that time. I've never felt better or more proud of myself. I hope my parents would have been proud too, but that's still a bit of a stretch, because I know that I'm not worth much.

I am still working to overcome what Eric did to me. Is it so bad that I just want to move on? I want that more than almost anything.

I look at the clock, and it reads 2:13. It isn't like I'm going to go back to sleep. I just sit up and try to calm my breathing back to normal. I finally get out of bed and head to the bathroom attached to my room and decide to go on a run since I know I probably won't have time to do it after school.

Staring in the mirror at my body, I see multiple ugly bruises that Peter left last night. They just make me even more disgusting than I already am.

I throw on athletic shorts and a sports bra on and put a hoodie over it considering how chilly the Chicago air is.

I quietly go down to the first floor and creep out the door, trying not to make a sound that could possibly wake up anybody else in the house.

And I run. My hands are curled into fists, slicing through the arir, and I'm going my speed is incredible. My body is sore and every step is painful, but I still run.

I run until I can't remember anything about my nightmare. I run until I'm not thinking about the Hell my life will be now that Peter has found a way to hurt me without anyone knowing. I run until I am no longer nervous about going to a strange new school with strange new people in a few short hours. I run until I can't feel the guilt about not dying in the accident with my parents and brother.

That is my worst regret: not being able to save them. I am fully aware that there is no way I could have known we were going to wreck, but maybe I could have done one thing different, and maybe they would still be here. I wish there was some reset button I could hit to do it all over again, do it all better. Maybe they would still be here today. I would gladly take all of their places. I should have, at the very least, gone with them.

I pass by an amazing park and countless houses. Nobody has come out of their homes yet. The sun is just starting to rise so I expect to see at least some teens start getting up to get ready for school. I run through a part of town with cute little shops that definitely have things that are my style. I'll have to make it a point to go there.

I finally realize that I have gone really far and probably need to go ahead and head back to get ready for school.

By the time I finally get back to the house, I have run twelve miles and am gasping for air. I didn't even realise I was out of breath.

The sun is fully risen, telling me that the others are probably up and are getting ready for school. I enter the house and grab a bottle of water from the fridge. I have chugged half of it when I feel a presence behind me, watching me. I am praying it isn't Peter while I am turning around.

I am pleasantly surprised when I see it is only Four, but then I remind myself that he is too good for me and will probably hate me eventually anyways. I seem to have that effect on most people.

"Morning," I mumble to him. He doesn't respond, just looks at me like I'm insane. I probably am.

"Morning," I say louder,snapping him out of his trance. He just walks past me and pulls a bottle out of the fridge.

As he drinks it, I can't help but watch how his lips move against it. I wonder briefly how those lips would feel against mine, but them remind myself that nobody wants a damaged girl. Nobody wants me.

"Are you going to talk to me or just ignore me the whole time I'm here?," I ask, getting angry. "Can you even talk?"

"Hello ,Tris." He replies coldly while glaring at me. Most people would be intimidated, but he doesn't seem to scare me. I'm just surprised he knows my name.

I see the pain in his eyes and know that he and I are more similar than we think. I wonder what he has been through, but know it isn't my place to ask.

"Now, was it really that hard?" I ask sarcastically.

He looks momentarily taken back. There is shock in his eyes, but he covers it so quickly that I have to wonder if it was even there. Maybe he's not used to being talked back to.

Maybe people should talk back to him more often. Might help him realize that he isn't all high and mighty.

I start heading up the stairs toward my bedroom. Ugh. Now I have to go to school.

* * *

><p>After a very long shower, I decide to get ready for school. I can't delay it for any longer no matter how much I'm most likely going to hate it. One glance at the clock on my bedside table tells me I only have 15 minutes to get to my new school.<p>

I quickly fish tail my wet hair to the side and apply only enough makeup to cover the bags under my eyes. I get dressed in black skinny jeans and a dark blue v-neck. I finish the look with a studded bracelet and my favorite black combat boots.

I quickly make my way downstairs,just to be greeted with Peter. I try to walk around him to avoid him, but that obviously doesn't work. Of course not.

Luckily, Christina is in the room also.

Just as I walk past him, hopefully unnoticed, he grabs my right wrist hard enough to break the bone. He gives me a fake smile and glances at Christina, discretely telling me not to tell anyone about this or make a sound. He finally lets go and I hurry to Christina, getting as far away from Peter as possible.

"You ready?" She asks with her mouth full of granola bar. I nod. I want to get away from peter as swiftly as possible, before he can do me anymore damage. I quickly start walking towards the door, grabbing an apple and making my way to her cherry red Ferrari. I would kill for a car like this.

The whole way there, Christina jabbers so quickly that the only words I can make out are boys, Will, shopping, and zebra.

Somehow, she doesn't notice how zoned out I am. I guess she's just used to talking. I'm not, but I don't mind that she is so talkative. It means that I won't have to contribute too much to our conversation. If Christina even wants to be friends with me after she gets to know me. Most likely not.

Who would?

While she has her eyes trained on the road, I finally get a good look at my wrist. It is already turning blue and purple. I immediately know that it isn't going away anytime soon. I put my studded bracelet over it, partially hiding the bruise. It would be hard to explain if anyone saw.

We finally arrive at the huge school and I see that it is made of five colorful buildings. They look amazing and intimidating and intriguing all at once. We get out of the car and Christina leads me to the front office to get my schedule. 'Welcome to Hell.' I tell myself and quickly follow her.

* * *

><p><strong>That makes two whole chapters! This chapter isn't very long, but hopefully, in the near future, my chapter will start to get longer. I love to read long stories, so I will do my best to make mine worth reading.<strong>

**Thank you all so much for actually reading my story and reviewing for those of you who did.**

**Remember, I want to hear all feedback. It doesn't matter to me if it is good or bad.**

**Everything y'all say helps me to write a better fanfic.**

**I am going to continue this story for a while, so always be expecting updates. I always update as soon as I finish a chapter.**

**It won't always be super fast, but I will update as soon as I can. I have a life, but I love to write enough that I will always make time for it.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

**Tris's point of view**

When Christina and I get to the front office, I walk up to the counter and am greeted with a small Asian woman. She has dark brown hair, and her skin is a beautiful color; she is very pretty. She looks kind of young to be working here, but she gives of an air of maturity.

I guess she can help me. "Hi, I'm Tris Prior and I'm new here. Can you give me a schedule, please?" I ask her.

"Ah,yes. Beatrice Prior. Here you go," she says, handing me my schedule."I'm Tori, by the way. I teach art and music." I simply nod and walk out of the office with Christina. Tori seemed nice. I hope she is my art and music teacher. She seems pretty cool.

"Girl, let me see your schedule!" Christina practically screams in my ear. "Yay! We have every class together except AP English and Calculus! Some of us aren't as smart as you! How did you get into all of the advanced classes? At least you have almost every hour with Four."

Great! He already hates me and now he has to see me all day! Note the sarcasm. At least I think he hates me, by the way he acted towards me this morning. Everyone there except for Christina seems to despise me. So far, she is the best thing about my new foster home.

Christina finally hands me back my schedule and I get a look at it.

Gym-Coach Amar

AP english

Lunch

Music-Tori Wu

Art-Tori Wu

I only glance at the classes and don't even bother to look at the rest of them. I'll figure them out when I need to.

At least Tori teaches me music and art, my favorite classes. With Tori, I know that I am going to enjoy them even more than I would have already.

Christina is still talking about how she's going to introduce me to all of her friends at lunch and how they are going to 'love' me. Yeah right. I just hope that she doesn't have an outragous number of snobby friends.

"Hey!" I interrupt,"do you know where my locker is? It's number 247."

"Omg,it's right beside mine!"She yells enthusiastically. This girl is driving me crazy, but in a good way. She makes it so easy to be excited about things.

She apparently nominates herself to walk me to every class she has with me and I don't object. It isn't like I can do it myself.

The whole way to Bio,I hear whispers of me being the 'new girl.' Maybe this school has nothing more interesting to talk about. I just wish that everyone would stop looking at me; it's making me really uncomfortable.

We arrive at biology and I immediately notice one of Four's friends that was with him last night is in this class. The only two spots are left in the entire classroom are beside him. I take the seat directly next to him while Christina sits to my left.

"Hi,I'm Uriah! Are you the new one at Max's?" He asks, and my face immediately turns white.

What if he asks about my past? What if Four knows about it and told him. I'm sure it was in my file that Max read, and maybe Max told everyone at the house about me. I really hope not.

I'm trying to go through the rest of my life with no one knowing anything about my past. The only people I want to know about me being in foster care are Christina,Four, Peter,and Molly. And that's only because it is inevitable since they live there too.

I definitely don't want anyone to pity me because my entire family is dead. I hate pity.

"U-u-mmm,yeah. How did you know about that?" I ask.

He must notice the scared look on my face because he reassures me quickly,"Oh! I didn't tell anyone, I just saw you at the table last night. And Four was talking about you nonstop. He's never done that before, so you must be pretty special."

This statement confuses me. Why would Four talk about me when he doesn't even like me? I have to figure this out.

"Why the hell would Four talk about me?"I ask, angry that Four might be talking badly about me.

"Oh! You thought I meant that as a bad thing! He doesn't say anything bad about you. Four never really talks about anyone, so Zeke and I really noticed it when he was talking about you."He reasures me quickly. Just as he is about to say something else, a tall blonde woman in a lab coat enter, effectively ruining his chance to speak. She must be the teacher.

The class goes by as expected:boring. The teacher is super rude and I can already tell that she's going to be my least favorite teacher. Hopefully the rest will be better.

Uriah keeps sneaking confused glances at me, like he's trying to figure me out. I just stare straight ahead and try to ignore him.

Surprisingly, Christina is focused on the class work. I wouldn't have pegged her to be the kind of girl to worry about grades. She just keeps surprising me.

We walk out of class and back towards our lockers. I pull out my map of the school, fully prepared to find my way to calculus by myself.

Unfortunately, Christina has a different idea.

Since Four has almost every hour with me, including the ones that Christina doesn't, she insists he bring me to all of my classes. It makes sense, but I still don't like it. Four obviously wants nothing to do with me, but after Christina begs him to be my personal guide, he reluctantly agrees.

I'm totally shocked that he would agree to do a favor for me, but I guess Christina can be pretty convincing.

We make our way to Calculus with where he sits as far away as possible from me. I'm momentarily stung, but then I remind myself that I'm just a damaged girl that nobody could ever love.

The whole period,I just doodle in my notebook. At my old school, before the accident, I won countless awards for my artistic ability. I love to draw. Even I have to admit that my drawings always turn out amazing.

I'm pulled from my little drawing bubble when the bell rings, signaling the end of the hour.

Next hour is gym, which is my favorite. I can't wait to show all of the things I can do. I'm strong and fast and I could probably beat anybody at this school in a race. I don't tell that to many people, but everybody at this school is about to find out.

I practically sprint to the gym, causing me to knock into a very solid person, knocking us both to the ground.

I look up and see my fear has come true. It's Peter,and I just knocked him on his ass in front everyone in the hallway. I know he's going to get me back for this somehow.

I brace myself for a hit, but he only smiles creepily and squeezes my already bruised wrist, the look in his eyes telling me he will get me for this later.

I mumble an apology and sprint the rest is the way to the gym. I change into the gym shorts Tori gave me and then reach for the shirt.

But it isn't there.

It was right beside me! Where did it go? I can't go out there with only a sports bra! The only other girl in the locker room is Molly.

She sees my dilemma and smirks. Of course Molly took it, she didn't seem like she liked me at the foster house.

"Did you see where my gym shirt went Molly?" I ask even though I know she has it.

"Not a clue, Stiff." She replies rudely.

"You're a bitch," I growl at her.

"At least I don't have the body of a child." She remarks immaturely.

That comment stung. I am really self-conscious about my body. I'm all too aware that I'm way too skinny and short. You can practically still see my bones even though I've started eating again, but at least I'm healthier than I was.

I suddenly remember that I have a hoodie in my backpack and quickly pull it on over my sports bra, smiling sarcastically at her the whole time. And with that, I strut confidently out of the locker room.

When I get to the gym, I am greeted by every junior in the school. I guess they do P.E. by grades. Almost every single girl is in only a sports bra and yoga shorts. Obviously, they don't follow the dress code.

Coach Amar informs us that we will be doing races today.I have to suppress the urge to jump up and down.

Every pair has to do two laps and the one that finishes first wins. Boy against girl. He pairs us up 'fairly',as he calls it, but there is nothing fair about it. There are overweight girls pairs with athletic boys and vice versa. It is just my luck that I am paired with Four. Short against tall. Weak-looking against obvious strength.

I still know I'm going to win. I've spent the last year working on my speed, there is absolutely no way he can beat me even though he looks extremely fit.

After a few races, it is mine and Four's turn when the coach notices me. "There are no hoodies allowed in this class, take it off." Coach Amar instructs me.

I am scared, but I will be brave. I hate my body, but I can't let them know about my insecurities.

I whip of my hoodie in one swift motion to reveal my black sports bra. The guys in the room automatically whoop in approval.

I know they can't be serious. I'm aware of how ugly and skinny my body is.

I look at Four and see him staring at my nonexistent stomach with an emotion I can't read. I quickly cross my arms over it.

Even though I feel tingly when his eyes are on me,I still am not comfortable with it. He obviously has the perfect body that would put everyone else to shame.

"Alright! That's enough," Coach Amar yells to save me from further embarrassment, but I'm already to embarrassed for it to work.

"Tris and Four, are you ready to begin the race?" We both nod our heads in assent. I can't wait to show everyone what I can do.

The whistle suddenly blows and we are off.

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><p><strong>And that makes three chapters!<strong>

**Thank you everyone that reviewed! You all gave positive feedback and I will definitely continue this story.**

**I got a review asking if Tris was living with a a family that adopts other foster kids from different families.**

**Tris is a foster child living in a foster home with other foster kids from all different families. They are all in foster care waiting to be adopted.**

**However, foster families can adopt some children that they foster. No, I am not a foster care expert, but I do enjoy learning about it. If you have any useful information on foster care, please don't hesitate to leave a review aboit it or pm me. Anything like that could help this story.**

**I'm so happy to have such great reviews on my VERY FIRST FANFIC! So thanks very much and read on.**

**Stay classy readers:)**

**Ty:)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapters Three and Four in Four's POV**

I finally arrive at school on my motorcycle and start heading to my dreaded classes. I see Christina showing Tris to her first class and I can't help but to feel jealous. Wait. Why am I jealous of Christina? I shouldn't want to be around Tris. I shouldn't want to be the one showing her around.

She would never want to be with someone with as many secrets as me. I've been through too much and am damaged.

She's obviously seen a lot too. Something must have happened to her family for her to be placed in foster care. I just hope it isn't the same reason as mine. I've barely meet her but I can already tell that she's special.

She's seen a lot, I'm sure, but she is stronger than me and is probably working through it every day. She deserves someone so much better than me.

I walk to my first class and take a seat in the back of the class next to Zeke.(**Authors** **Note**: **I** **made** **them** **all** **juniors**. **Uriah** **and** **Zeke** **are** **fraternal** **twins!)**

I look up to see Tris taking a seat between Uriah and Christina. They start talking and Tris glances at me.

I tense.

What if they are talking about me? What if Uriah is telling her how much I talk about her? That will freak her out! I've barely said two words to her! And what I did say to her was douchy. She has every reason to hate me right now.

I haven't said anything bad or anything, I've just mentioned more about het to Zeke and Uriah than I ever have about anyone else. Apparently, it's weird for the 'mysterious Four' to take interest in anyone. But, I mean, how could I not talk about her?

Ever since this morning when she came in from her run, I was fascinated with her. No one ever stands up to me like that.

I've been thinking about her since even before that. When I saw her at the dinner table the night she got here. Her eyes drew me into her. They were so full of life, but they were also full of secrets and pain. I want to be the one she tells about them. But she would never do that. She would never like someone like me.

Soon enough, walks in and begins teaching her boring class that no one pays attention to. I just talk to Zeke the entire period. The bell finally rings and I get my books for calculus from my locker.

Christina waves me over to she and Tris. Apparently, I have almost every single class with Tris. I suddenly feel extremely happy, but then remember that she deserves better than me.

Christina practically begs me to walk Tris to all of her classes. I would be very excited to agree, but I really don't think Tris would like to spend a lot of time with me. I reluctantly agree since Tris has no one else to bring her to the classes that Christina has with her.

We walk silently to Calculus. We arrive and I sit as far away from her as possible. I'm already walking her to every class, I should probably give her some space. I'm sure she's already upset about spending time with me at all, I don't want to force her to spend more time with me by sitting beside her.

Class passes quickly enough and we start walking to gym, my favorite class. Suddenly, Tris starts sprinting to the gym. Either she really doesn't want to spend another second with me, or she is super excited about being in gym. I suspect it's both.

I know for a fact that Tris is athletic. I saw her coming back from a run early this morning. She is obviously pretty invested in her fitness if she is willing to wake up early to go for a run.

I arrive in gym class and get dressed in basketball shorts and a plain black t-shirt. They give everyone assigned uniforms at the beginning of the year, but everyone mostly ignores them and wears whatever the want to.

I walk out of the locker room and go talk to Zeke. He's thinking about having yet another party this Friday. He has parties almost every weekend.

I see Tris walk out after almost everyone else. Her face is red and she looks furious. I immediately note that she is wearing a hoodie.

Oh no. She's not going to be able to wear it for long. Hoodies aren't allowed in this class. I just hope she has something decent on under it.

Coach Amar comes out of his office and greets all of us juniors. He announces that we will be doing races today and I am instantly excited. I love to run. It helps get my mind off of all the thoughts that haunt me.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when I hear Coach Amar shout instructions. He is going to split us into evenly matched pairs. We all let out a collective groan. We all know that evenly to him actually means total opposite to everyone else.

He starts pairing us up together, unfairly, I might add, and I am fortunately paired with Tris. Tall against short. I obviously have longer legs than her, but I definitely don't have her speed. Since she is so small, she is bound to be fast, and if her running this morning is any indication of her running habits, I'm sure she runs all the time. I am more about stamina, but this race is only two laps around the track.

A few pairs go and since they are so unfair, it's easy to predict who will win. Now is mine and Tris' race.

Just as Coach is about to blow the whistle, he calls Tris out. "There are no hoodies allowed in this class. Take it off."

I see fear flash behind her eyes, but she quickly masks it. She is very good at hiding her emotions, but not from me. I can tell that we are very alike. We have both been through pain that will be with us throughout the rest of our lives. I can see it in her eyes.

She swiftly removes her hoodie, revealing a black sports bra. Almost every other girl in this room is wearing one, but I can't help but stare at her. Even though I can tell she is too skinny for a normal girl her age, I still can't help but think she's absolutely beautiful.

But then, my eyes are drawn to something else.

A dark bruise.

It's peeking out from under her sports bra, right above her ribs. The more I look at her, the more I see. I start to see bruises on her upper arms as well. I can tell from experience that they are very frequent, judging by the dark purple and blue color.

It makes me sick to think of someone doing that to someone as amazing as Tris. I have only just met her, but I am positive that she doesn't deserve to be hit or treated badly at all.

I look around at everybody to see if they notice them, but of course they don't. Everyone at this school is so used to people getting in fights that they don't notice her bruises. I'm thankful for that. She probably doesn't need everyone looking at her like she's a kicked puppy. I know how she feels.

She finally looks up and notices my staring and crosses her arms over her tiny but firm stomach. She doesn't get the chance to say anything because Coach Amar tells everyone to shut up. I didn't even notice everyone was whooping and catcalling at Tris. Bitches.

We get set at the starting line, waiting for Coach to cue our start. The whistle blows, and we are off. By the time I can even process anything, Tris is already ahead. Damn, she's fast!

She runs like she is finally free from her demons, like she is finally doing something that she enjoys, for herself. It's like she's finally happy. It's really a beautiful thing to watch, someone being freed by running. I blink from my daze of watching her and try to focus back on my running. By the time I am halfway through a lap, she is already half a lap ahead of me.

It is so weird to be losing, I have always been the fastest student at this school. But maybe Tris deserves to be praised for something she enjoys and is fantastic at.

We are both still sprinting halfway through the second lap, but Tris is still quite a bit ahead. Every time I try to gain on her, it's like she senses it and goes faster.

She's a natural and I don't even mind that she is going to be the first person to beat me in a race. We are finally just a few yards away from the finish line and the entire class is either cheering for me or Tris.

Right at this moment, Tris decides to give everything she has and speeds up even further, reaching the finish line at least 10 seconds before me.

Everyone is shocked. They can't believe this little girl beat the legendary Four. I am currently gasping for air, but when I look at Tris, she is hardly even breaking a sweat.

"Time?" I ask Coach Amar, who has an incredulous look on his face. Obviously he didn't expect her to win either. He breaks out of his trance and looks at his stopwatch. "1:23 for you, 1:12 for the little girl." Now it's my turn to be shocked. A half mile in 1:23? That's the fastest I've ever done. 1:12 is incredible for Tris.

I can't help but think that the reason I did so well is because Tris was in it with me. She makes me faster.

Coach Amar still looks like he can't believe that Tris ran like that, so strongly,so fast. "Tris! Are you thinking about doing track? I've already seen enough that you don't have to try out. We practice after school today. We would be happy to have you on the team."

She looks momentarily shocked, like she can't believe she's even being noticed. "U-u-mm, sure. That would be great."

The rest of the class is still whispering about Tris's speed. I don't blame them, she was amazing.

The rest of the pairs go, but I block them out and think about Tris, something I seem to be doing a lot lately, not that I can find it in myself to mind. Coach finally sends us to the locker rooms to get dressed. The bell for fourth period finally rings and I start walking out, but something stops me dead in my tracks.

Tris is waiting by the door, staring at me. She then comes to stand right beside me. What is she doing? Why would she be waiting for me? She looks confused for a second. "You're still bringing me to class, right?"

Of course! Class. Disappointment surges through me. She only needs me to walk her to class. That's the only reason she waited for me. I try to mask my disappointment with a small smile"Of course."

And off to AP English we go.

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><p><strong>Thank<strong> **y'all soooo much for all the reviews! I hope y'all like this chapter in Four's pov.**

**A special thanks to teentastic for being SO FRICKEN AWESOME!**

**I'm so glad that I have such amazing fans on my VERY first fanfic. I will try to update this story very soon, so in the next few days. Remember to leave a review no matter what you have to say. Anything is helpful, good or bad.**

**The next chapter will be in Tris's pov.**

**Love,Ty:)**

**Read on and stay classy:)**


	5. Chapter 5

_**You don't have to do this on your own,**_

_**Like there's no one that cares about you.**_

_**And oh say that it's alright,**_

_**But I know that it's a lie**_

_**From the black in your eyes. **_

_**You don't have to act like you're alone,**_

_**Like the walls are closing in on you.**_

_**You don't have to pretend no one know,**_

**Like there's no one that understands you.**

**I'm not just some face that you used to know.**

**I know all about you.**

**And you should know that someone cares about you.**

All About You by Birdy

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

**Tris's point of view**

Coach Amar blows his whistle and we are off.

I run as fast as I can, not daring to look back to see how far behind Four is. When I am running, the rest of the world surrounding me falls away, and I am the only one in the world that matters.

Nothing else matters.

The guilt I feel about my family is gone.

The fear I feel about the countless ways Peter can get me back for knocking him down in the hallway has faded to nothing.

The insecurity I feel about my body and how everyone in this class is probably judging me has disappeared.

I put everything I have into my running, because I know that when things get tough, I will always be able to run and forget, even if only for a moment.

In this moment, I am infinite.

I am sprinting with everything I have. We have finished one lap and are passing the rest of the class standing on the side. They all look so shocked, I almost burst out laughing. I guess they didn't expect me to be so good at this.

There are so many things they don't know about me yet, and many things they will never know about me. I can't let these people know my deepest secrets, about my family, Peter, and definitely not about Eric and what he did to me that summer.

I chance a look back at Four and see that while he is in a full on sprint, he is still yards behind me. I must have at least ten seconds on him. That may not sound like a lot, but in running time, it's a giant gap.

He is a fantastic runner, but he looks like more of a football player. He has the broad shoulders, long arms, and fit body. Though he has football player shoulders, his broad shoulders taper into a narroew waist, gicving me the impression of him being a swimmer. I take a second to mentally admire his body. He is so perfect, it's crazy. Physically wise. I'm almost positive he has issues, seeing that he is also in foster care.

Something must have happened to his family that left them unable to care for him or dead. I can only hope it's the first option. No one should have to go through their family dying, especially right in front of them, like me. And people wonder why I'm so messed up.

I watched my family die, and there was absolutely nothing I could do to save them. The whole time I'm thinking like this, I am gaining speed. This isn't nearly the fastest I have ever gone, but I'm still going extremely fast.

Before I know it, we are almost done with the second lap. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Four trying to gain on me. Every time,I ever so slightly speed up, so he won't have any possible chance to beat me. I have to win. I have to prove to myself that I am good at something, that I'm not totally worthless.

The last quarter lap of the lap, I push all of my thoughts away and run as fast as my feet can carry me. It's amazing what I can do when I just shut my thought off and just run. The finish line is approaching fast, and Four is still plenty far behind me.

I sprint past the finish line, and am met with faces of amazement. A few second later, Four passes the finish line, gasping for breathe. I am not even breathing hard. I'm so used to doing so much of a longer distance than that, it doesn't even phase me.

"Time?" Four huffs out at Coach Amar. He isn't really out of breathe either, biut I can tell that he isn't as accustomed to running as I am. I finally notice that Coach is looking at me much like the rest of the class is: surprised, intimidated, shocked. It makes me proud to know that I can have that kind of effect on them just by running half of a mile."1:26 for you, 1:12 for the little girl," Coach Amar responds.

This comment would infuriate me, but I'm so thrilled from running that it doesn't bother me one bit. I'm very pleasantly surprised when Coach Amar asks me to be on the track team. He must think that I'm pretty good too. The run that I just didn't wasn't nearly as impressive as some that I have done before.

"U-um, sure." He gives me a nod of approval and begins the remaining races.

I eventually zone out until I see Peter at the starting line, facing off with Christina. Coach blows his whistle and they take off running as fast as they can. Christina may have insanely long legs, but they are no match compared to Peter's incredible speed.

He is so fast that I forget about what he is doing to me and admire how fast he is. It scares me a little to know that he isn't only strong, but also swift. He's not nearly as quick as me, but if I am ever hurt and trying to get away from him, he could quite possibly catch me before I could get away.

I shiver and quickly look away. He ends up beating Christina by almost 25 seconds. His time was 1:54 and hers was 2:13. They are both pretty talented.

Christina comes up to me after her race to talk."Oh my gosh! We're going to be on the track team together! You're amazing at running, I can't believe your time was only 1:12! That's incredible, way faster that anyone on the team could do."

I nod my head."I can't wait to meet all of the other girls on the team! I'm really happy that I have you there with me so I know at least one person."I respond with more enthusiasm than usual. She must be rubbing off on me.

She just smiles freakishly widely."I am going to introduce you to some of the girls at lunch. They are in our group and we all sit together in the cafeteria."

We continue talking about track and shopping(mostly her) and watch the rest of the races. None of the do as well as Four, Christina, Peter, and I. They mostly get around four minutes, which is an average time for people that don't run regularly.

One girl even clocked in at a total of eight minutes. She was so out of breathe by the time she was finished, I seriously thought she was going to pass out.

Coach Amar finally sends us back to the locker rooms to get dressed and we change back into the clothes we originally had on. I am about to head to the next class when I remember that I have absolutely no idea where my next class is.

I know that I need to get Four to bring me, but I don't want to bother him. I think about my options, but then decide that him bringing me to class is the most practical one. I wait by the door for him to come out. Only a few moment pass before he comes out of the boy's locker room.

I can't help but think about how well his plain shirt hugs his rippling muscles so perfectly. His hair still has a little bit of sweat in it, but it looks good on him. I immediately stop my thoughts and internally reprimand myself.'You can't think about him like that Tris! Nobody will ever want you.'

I walk up to him and ask him if he's still bringing me to class and he says yes, without hesitation, surprisingly. We start walking toward AP English, which is across campus from the gym, so we have to kind of do this weird speed walk thing.

I absolutely love English;it's my best subject. I like knowing how words fit together and make sense. I like how every single word has a purpose. It reminds me that even the smallest of things can be useful.

We get there just before the bell rings and sit in the last to available seats. Right next to each other. I awkwardly sit down, and he takes the seat beside me, not like he had any other choices. I take out my notebook and doodle until the teacher enters the classroom. He starts talking about book reports and I just sit in my seat, taking it all in. He teaches until about five minutes until the bell, then tells about the assignment we will have a month to do.

We have to 'establish' a fake business with a partner. We will need to come up with a name, storefront, merchandise, and everything else businesses need. He says that we are to base the theme of the store on each of our likes and merge them, then write a report about our business.

But here's the kicker.

Our partner is the person sitting next to us. Therefore, I am partners with Four. The little voice in my head says that this would be a perfect way to find out more about him, but the rest of me is scared that once he gets to know me, he will think I'm repulsive. Which I am.

I chance a look at him and see that he is looking straight back at me. He doesn't look angry or annoyed at all. Maybe he doesn't hate me as much as I thought. The bell finally rings for lunch and I walk with Four to the cafeteria to meet with Christina and the rest of the group. Maybe they won't be so bad. _Hopefully_ they won't be too bad. Christina is my only sure friend here so far, not counting whatever Four is, friend or frenemy, so I really hope that I like whoever she hangs out with.

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><p><strong>Chapter three, you guys! Not very long, but hopefully it is enough to quench your 'Make it Stop' thirst.<strong>

**I hope y'all like this chapter. I'm oh so very sorry I didn't update sooner. I just had to make sure that this chapter was up to my standards, which are pretty high, so it's pretty hard for me to write stories.**

**I hope y'all keep following this story and enjoy reading it as much as I love writing it. I never knew that I wanted to write a fanfic until I actually started. I was pretty content with just reading them, but now that I have started, I JUST CAN'T STOP:)**

**Please leave reviews, I LOVE THEM! How can I know how y'all are responding to the story if you don't leave a reviewm I CAN'T! Anything you have to say is welcome. Any ideas or feedback is helpful, so please leave it.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Love,Ty:)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter** **Six**

Tris's pov

It turns out, lunch equals interrogation.

Christina and I go through the lunch line and grab our trays. The only good thing I can find is an apple, so I grab it and a bottle of water. I look at Christina and see her piling her plate up with chocolate cake, so I put a little piece on my plate too.

We walk together to a table in the middle of the cafeteria where the only people I recognize are Four,Zeke, and Uriah. Christina introduces me to a pretty, short-haired blonde girl named Shauna and a scary looking bald girl named Lynn. She informs me that they are sisters. She blushes scarlet when introduces a boy with blonde hair and celery green eyes named Will. She obviously likes him.

"These two retarded brothers are Zeke and Uriah. I'm pretty sure you saw them with Four last night." Christina tells me loudly. This catches Shauna's and Lynn's attention. They don't know about me being a foster kid and they aren't about to find out. I just met them and I'm not going to give out that information until I know that I can trust them. I don't want it going around school.

Lynn is the first one to speak up."What do you mean you saw them last night? They spent the night with Four. You just got here, so how did you see them?"

I start to panic, so I spit out a lie as fast as humanly possible."U-umm, I went shopping the first day I got here and ran into Christina. We shopped together the whole day and she invited me over for dinner. I saw Zeke and Uriah walk in with Four." The words tumble out of my mouth. That actually sounded pretty believable. I look at Christina and she's giving me a confused look. I glare at her, silently pleading with her not to give me away. She must understand because her eyes soften and she give a slight nod of her head. She gives me a look that says that we will definitely be talking about this later. At least she isn't going to tell everyone that I'm lying.

Lynn and Shauna seem to accept this and start eating their piles of chocolate cake. I look at the rest of the table and see them doing the same. WHAT IS IT WITH THIS CHOCOLATE CAKE?

Uriah notices my confusion."Dauntless cake is like heaven in slice form. Try some and you will never look at regular cake the same again!"

I don't really feel like eating right now. Sometimes I'm hungry all day and sometimes I hardly eat anything at all for an entire week. Looking at food makes me sick sometimes."I'll just stick with my apple." I tell him politely.

Everyone at the table stops what they are doing and looks and me like I just said that I was about to shit monkeys."WHAT?" They shout in unison. How did they do that?

" You aren't going to eat anything else but an apple? Dauntless cake is sent from the gods and you aren't even going to eat it? What's wrong with you?" Lynn shouts, loud enough for the entire fucking world to hear.

This comment makes me feel even more depressed than I already did. I'm trying to eat more food, but misfortunes I just can't. Who is she to judge me? She doesn't know me or what I've been through. No one here knows what I've seen. Christina and Four probably have family problems too since they live at Max's, but they still don't know exactly what happened to me.

"I'm just not very hungry." I mumble to Lynn,not quite meeting anyone's eyes.

"I guess that's how you stay so skinny!" Christina yells. This conversation is making me uncomfortable.

I look at Four and see that he looks upset. I don't know why my eating habits would make him upset. It's not like my life has any affect on his. He shouldn't worry about what I do.

Uriah obviously sees my discomfort and changes the subject."Zeke and I are having a party this Friday at our house. All of you, along with half the school, are invited!" The rest of the lunch, my unhealthy eating habits are forgotten and we all just talk about the party.

The bell ending lunch rings and Four walks me to music. I walk into the room and my eyes immediately zero in on the giant grand piano. I haven't played since before my parents died. My mom taught me, but I haven't been able to force myself to play since I've been in foster care. She was a music teacher, always teaching kids to play music. Always doing things for other people instead of herself. I miss her so much.

Four goes to sit by Zeke, so I sit between Christina and Uriah. We talk until Tori comes in."Class, today you are in for a special treat. We are going to have a musical play-off. You can play an instrument or sing and the person that wins gets 50 extra bonus points in this class." I really want to win because I want to start the year off with good grades. I don't want to fall behind in school just because of what I'm going through in my life.

Tori will pick students to go one at a time and we rate them. The two students with the highest scores compete to win the bonus points. A mousy brunette that hangs out with Peter is the first to go. As expected, her voice is as ugly as her face. Hardly anyone claps when she finishes singing Carry On by f.u.n.

I zone out from the rest of the horrible singers until Christina comes on stage and sings 400 Lux by Lorde**(A/N-if** **you** **haven't** **heard** **it,** **listen** **to** **it!)** She gets really into the song and starts dancing along with it. She's has a really great voice. After she gets done, receiving about 5 minutes of applause, it is Four's turn.

I can't really imagine him singing because he looks so tough, but he proves me wrong yet again. He sings Ready,Aim,Fire by Imagine Dragons and played guitar along with it. His voice is amazing. It is deep and gravely and mesmerizing and I can't get enough of it. By the time he finishes singing his song, I'm pretty sure I'm drooling.

Uriah, Zeke, Shauna, and Lynn all go. They are all pretty talented, but Lynn stuck out to me. She sang with a pain in her eyes and her voice held so much emotion. She and I might actually get along.

Tori starts to pick the next person to go on stage, and her eyes look straight at me. "Tris, nobody here has heard your talents yet. Let's see what you can do!" I'm so nervous I feel like I'm about to puke.

I look to the piano and immediately know that I'm not ready to play yet. It will bring up too many memories and I won't be able to control my emotions. I decide to sing one of my favorite songs, even though I've never sang anywhere except in my shower before the accident. No one has ever heard me except my mom.

I walk up to the microphone and start singing Ignorance by Paramore.

If I'm a bad person, you don't like me

Well I guess I'll make my own way

It's a circle A mean cycle I can't excite you anymore

Where's your gavel? Your jury? What's my offense this time?

You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me

Well sentence me to another life

Don't wanna hear your sad songs I don't wanna feel your pain

When you swear it's all my fault Cause you know we're not the same (no)

We're not the same (no) Oh we're not the same

Yeah the friends who stuck together

We wrote our names in blood

But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (hey)

It's good (hey) It's good

Well you treat me just like another stranger

Well it's nice to meet you sir

I guess I'll go

I best be on my way out

You treat me just like another stranger

Well it's nice to meet you sir

I guess I'll go

I best be on my way out

Ignorance is your new best friend

Ignorance is your new best friend

This is the best thing that could've happened

Any longer and I wouldn't have made it

It's not a war no, it's not a rapture

I'm just a person but you can't take it

The same tricks that, that once fooled me

They won't get you anywhere

I'm not the same kid from your memory

Well now I can fend for myself

Don't wanna hear your sad songs

I don't wanna feel your pain

When you swear it's all my fault

Cause you know we're not the same (no)

We're not the same (no)

Oh we're not the same

Yeah we used to stick together

We wrote our names in blood

But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (hey)

It's good (hey) It's good

Well you treat me just like another stranger

Well it's nice to meet you sir

I guess I'll go

I best be on my way out

You treat me just like another stranger

Well it's nice to meet you sir

I guess I'll go

I best be on my way out

Ignorance is your new best friend

Ignorance is your new best friend

Ignorance is your new best friend

Ignorance is your new best friend

Well you treat me just like another stranger

Well it's nice to meet you sir

I guess I'll go

I best be on my way out

You treat me just like another stranger

Well it's nice to meet you sir

I guess I'll go

I best be on my way out

I open my eyes after noticing that I had them squeezed tightly together the entire time. I look around the room and hope that I didn't do too bad. When I see the class, they have mixed expressions of awe, confusion, and amazement. I guess I did alright.

I walk off the stage and the class claps so loudly that I feel like my eardrums are going to pop. They keep clapping until Tori tells them to quiet down.

I plop back down in my seat beside Christina and Uriah."Tris, that was amazing. Where did you learn to sing like that and why aren't you famous yet?!" Christina says excitedly.

I'm saved from answering by Tori calling up her next victim. This goes on until the bell rings and it is time for art. Not everyone got a chance to sing so we will finish the contest tomorrow.

I get my stiff out of my locker and find Four by his locker. With a girl. I feel white hot jealousy course through my veins, but I don't know why.

She's absolutely nothing like me. She has a pile of makeup on her face and you can see her boobs,obviously fake, hanging out of her drastically low v-neck. She is rubbing up against Four, whispering something in his ear. He looks incredibly uncomfortable.

He looks up and sees me staring and give me a look that begs me to help. Before I can think twice, I run between the him and the Barbie doll."Umm, excuse me, I think you should step away from him before you give him an STD just by breathing on him." I tell the bitch.

She puts her perfectly manicured hand on my chest and shoves me with more strength than I would have thought she had, making me fall to the ground."And why would I do that bitch? I'm not going to listen to a poor little foster girl with no family. You are nothing, your family didn't even want you. They were probably happy to die just so they could get away from you." She whispers into my ear, so quietly that only I can hear.

I lose all practical thoughts and it is almost like I lose control of my body. My arm swings out and punches her square in the nose. I hear a satisfying crunch and blood starts gushing, but I don't stop. I push her to the ground and kick her in the ribs,face,legs. Anywhere I can reach.

I can't seem to stop.

It's like my legs are acting on their own. My family didn't want to die. My family loved me.

She is definitely unconscious, but I still can't stop. I straddle her and grab her head in my hands and bring it to the ground over and over and over again. I can't stop. It isn't until Four puts his arm around my waist and pulls me back that I stop fighting and notice the crowd around the fight.

I look at the bitch and see blood spilling freely from all over her body.I hear "get her to the Infirmary! She's going to die!" being shouted, but I don't care.

Four looks at me with a frightened and concerned expression."What the fuck did she say to you, Tris?"

"Let's just go to art." I mumble to him.

Art is exactly what I need right now. It might help calm me down. I'm ashamed of what I did to that girl. I don't even know her name and I severely injured her. I would have killed her if Four hadn't stopped me. That's what scares me the most.

I still have no idea how she knew that I am in foster care and that my family died. I didn't tell anyone, so someone that also lives there mist have said something. Probably Peter. Damn fucktard.

"What was her name?" I ask Four halfway to class. "Lauren" he replies"and I'd really like to know what she said to make you go crazy. I saw her whisper something in your ear. It must have been pretty personal."

I just shrug my shoulders and speed up my pace. We arrive at art class and this time, Four actually sits right beside me instead of by Zeke. Maybe he thinks he'll have to stop me from beating someone else into unconsciousness.

"If you are sitting by me so I won't try to kill anyone else, don't bother. I don't need you to protect me. I can handle myself." I tell him angrily.

"Obviously I know that you can handle yourself. What do you think you just did in the hallway. I'm going to sit by you so deal with it."

I am about to reply when Tori walks in and tells us to stop talking."Now class, we are going to start on something new today. I want you all to draw what you would get as a tattoo. And it can't be a heart or those stupid infinity signs all of you do! Make it meaningful. What it means to you is half of the points and artistic ability is the other half."

I get out my sketchbook and start drawing. It's almost like my hand is moving on its own. I block out the rest of the class and just draw. If I were to actually get a tattoo, which I would totally love, I would want it to mean something to me. The most significant thing in my life is my family.

I start to draw three ravens to represent the three family members that I lost. I finish up the sketch just as Tori is walking around, checking people's work. She mostly just nods her head and sometimes offers words of encouragement.

She stops and stares wide-eyed at my sketch."Tris, this is amazing. Where did you get the inspiration?" "The birds represent my family that I lost in a car accident. They meant the world to me." I whisper to her so that no one hears.

"I'm very sorry for your loss. I'm sure they would be so proud of you,sweetheart. As far as I can tell, you're a pretty amazing girl." I nod my head in thanks. Maybe talking to Tori is exactly what I needed to feel better.

At least I don't feel like beating the shit out of anyone anymore. I feel so much better than I did when I walked in here.

The bell rings, signalling the end of the day.

I get to the gym and get dressed in what I wore in gym, a black sports bra and gym shorts. I make my way to the track to meet the rest of the team and Coach Amar for track practice.

* * *

><p>Thank you all so much for leaving such awesome review! Sorry this isn't in bold and nothing is separated, my kindle is being retarded right now.<p>

Dear zayzay, I am a girl, Ty is short for my real name, which I don't really like.

I hope you all like this chapter because it was really fun to write. It is my favorite so far:)

Read on and stay classy:) Love,Ty:)


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter** **7**

**Tris's pov**

The girls greet me and Christina gives me an enormous suffocating hug. I look at all the girls and see that the only ones I know are Christina,Lynn,and Shauna. We talk,and by we,I mean them, until Coach Amar comes and tells us to stretch. In unison, the girls bend down as far as they can to touch their toes.

I follow suit, going down so far that my chin ends up between my legs. "Damn girl! Why are you so flexible?" Shauna asks me.

"I used to be in gymnastics when I was younger. I did them until I was around thirteen." I answer back.

This gets another girl's,Cara's, attention."So can you do flips and stuff? And do tricks on a beam?"

"Sure, but I haven't done it since then. I practiced in the park a few times after I quit, but it wasn't the same."

"Do a back bend!"one girl named Amy requests. I abandon my stretching and do a back bend right there. I flip backwards out of my back bend at least six times. I then run at the girls flipping and doing cartwheels. I get to them and land in a split. The girls look at me in awe, speechless.

"That was amazing! Is there anything you can't do?" Christina yells.

There are plenty of things I can't do."Knit."

"That doesn't count. Only old people can knit."

Coach Amar chooses this moment to walk to us."Alright girls! Start with warm-ups! Jog twice around the track." That's way too easy. We get on the line and Shauna yells go. All 10 girls start jogging at around the same pace: slow. Two laps is nothing compared to what I usually do. In fact, I just beat Four this morning in two laps, so I start running. Not a full out sprint, but not a jog either.

When I look back, all of the other girls are pretty far behind me, Christina being the closest. I keep my pace until I reach the finish line, several seconds before any of the other girls do. I hear them breathing slightly hard, but I'm so used to it that my breathing is completely normal. The girls look at me like I'm an alien.

"You didn't slow down, you aren't breathing hard, and you practically sprinted that lap!" Shauna yells at me,"How did you do that?"

"I run a lot." They shake their heads at this, but accept it.

Coach Amar comes out and tells us to sprint two miles and we can leave when we finish. The girls catch their breathe and get set at the starting line. Coach yells 'Go!' and we start sprinting.

I finish the two miles with ease and wait for Christina to finish hers so that we can ride home together. She finishes about three minutes after me, coming in second to me. We get changed in the locker room and start to drive back to the house. Halfway there, she decides to interrogate me.

"How are you so fast? I know you said you run a lot, but you only get that good by running for a reason."

It couldn't hurt to tell her that. I hopefully won't give up too much about my past. Maybe she deserves to know and I'm sure she already suspects my family problems since I am in foster care with her. I take a deep breath and start my explanation.

"I was in a bad situation before my parents died." I start, thinking of Eric."and when I couldn't take it anymore, I tried to run away from my feelings.I was afraid of having a moment of weakness and found something I would regret. After my parents died and I went into foster care, I would get really upset and have tantrums, locking myself in the bathroom, not talking, stuff like that. So instead of doing that, I used running as my way to cope, just like before."

Christina stares at me with pity, which I hate."Wow. That's really deep."

I look at her and burst out laughing, because it is the only thing to do in a time like this. She just had to say that. She just laughs along with me. She decides to change the subject drastically.

"So, Tris. I saw the way you and Four were looking at each other at lunch. Anything you want to tell me?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." I wasn't being obvious at lunch. Damn her observation skills.

"Oh, come on! You were making googly eyes with each other!"

"I'm not the one that has eye sex with Will!"

"I'm at least getting some kind of sex!"she quips.

"At least I'm not a slut!"

"At least I'm sexy enough to be a slut!"

"At least I come to terms with the fact that Four doesn't like me!"

"At least I don't lie to myself like you do!"

We continue on until we are red in the face from laughing so hard. We finally pull up in the driveway and get out of the car. I go straight to my room and close my door. When I look up, I am faces with my nightmare.

Peter.

"Well, someone finally decided to come home." He sneers hatefully.

"What do you want Peter?"

"To make your life Hell." "Why?" I ask. I have absolutely no idea why he insists on hating me so much, on physically hurting me even though he doesn't even know me.

"It's my favorite pastime."he replies sarcastically,"Now, about what happened in the hallway."

I visibly gulp. Me knocking him down in the hallway wouldn't be a big deal to anyone else but Peter. I personally think that he is just looking for reasons to harm me.

"That was so dumb. Didn't last night show you not to mess with me?" I think about the bruises covering my body. "You are going to pay for humiliating me in front of everyone in that hallway. Now take of your shirt."

The look on his face tells me that it will only be worse if I don't obey him. I just pray that he doesn't try to rape me.I turn around and take of my shirt agonizingly slow, stalling. I turn back around to see him taking off his belt. I scream in my mind. Eric was awful, but he never whipped me. He mostly kicked and punched me. He messed with my mind a lot, and that hurt more that anything he could ever physically do to me.

"Don't make a sound."he warns. I brace myself for the impact, but I could have never prepared for the pain I feel when the leather comes into contact with the tender flesh of my back. My legs instantly buckle and I fall to the ground, but my mouth stays clenched shut, preventing any sounds from escaping.

I lay am laying on the ground on my stomach when lash comes. I inevitably cry out.

"What did I just say bitch? Not a sound!" He continues to break the skin on my back until it is bleeding heavily. I see it leaking onto the hardwood floor. I'm not sure how many strikes I have taken because I lost count after 18. This is the worst pain I have ever experienced.

I am almost unconscious when I hear him slip his belt back into the loops on his pants. I think it is finally over when he jerks my head up by my hair and slams it into the ground. The only thought I can form is 'finally' as I slip into an endless blackness.

* * *

><p>I open my eyes with a gasp. I could have only been unconscious for a few minutes. Peter must have left. I finally allow myself to cry. I sob into my hand to cover up the inhuman noises that I am making.<p>

I'm not sure how long this goes on, but my tears finally stop and I decide to try and move. Every slight movement causes an excruciating jolt to coarse through my entire body. I crawl to my bed and use it to pull myself up. It hurts like hell, but I can't just lay on the floor all day with a bloody back.

I finally pull myself up and get to the bathroom. I have to clean the blood up so that no one comes in here and sees it. I slowly drag myself to the bathroom and grab a towel to clean up the bloody floor. After I finish that, I realize that the next step is to clean myself up. And I know it's going to be excruciating.

I get into the shower and turn the water on as cold as possible in hopes that it will somewhat numb my back. As soon as the water hits my back, I let out a scream into my teeth. The pain is unbearable. Even though the water beating down on me is torture, I don't budge.

After a few minutes, my back is finally becoming somewhat numb. It still hurts like hell, but I don't need to muffle my screams anymore. After a few more minutes in the shower, I step out and look at my back in the mirror.

What I see shocks me.

I was already expecting my back to be cut up and ugly, but this is a whole new level. What was before smooth, pale, and tender is now just torn flesh. The angry skin is ripped and torn from the leather of the belt. At least it isn't bleeding very badly anymore. The water must have helped.

I tightly wrap a towel around my back, carefully placing it so it doesn't cause any more pain than is inevitable. I keep in there for a few minutes and when I take it off, the bleeding has almost completely stopped from the pressure of the towel. My mom taught me that the quickest way to stop bleeding was to apply pressure.

I carefully put an over sized shirt and boxer shorts on so that they don't cling to the fresh wounds. I lay on my bed and sob silently. That is how I fall asleep.

* * *

><p>I wake up with a large hand shaking my shoulder. I yelp at the sudden movement without opening my eyes. The hand stills.<p>

"Tris? What's the matter?"a voice I recognize as Four's asks.

Four? What is he doing in here? Shit! I just helped in pain and he heard it! I can only hope he doesn't read into it and ask questions. I quickly open my eyes and look straight into his dark blue ones.

"What are you doing in here? And why are you waking me up?"I ask before he can question me about my cry of pain.

It seems to get his mind off of it."It's dinner time and Christina made it. You should come down to eat."

Food is the absolute last thing on my mind right now. I can't even think about it without getting nauseous.

"I'm not very hungry, but thanks for the offer,"I reply groggily.

"Tris, you have hardly eaten anything all day, you need to eat. It's not healthy to skip meals. I know for a fact that all you had for lunch was an apple and Christina told me that you only had a granola bar for breakfast."

Why is he so worried about this anyways? I'm not his problem and he should just leave me and my health alone.

"You aren't my mom. In case you didn't know,she's dead. So if you would be so kind, stop acting like it and get out my room."

"Whatever. It's your life and if you want to die, so be it. I was just trying to help,"he exclaims angrily and barges out of my room, loudly slamming the door behind him.

I just ignore the gratitude I feel towards him for being worries about me when no one else is and go back to sleep.

I suddenly remember that I have to go back to school tomorrow and a whole new wave of tears appears.

* * *

><p>I wake up the next morning feeling not at all rested. I was kept awake all night by nightmares of Peter and Eric and watching my parents and Caleb die countless new, horrible ways.<p>

My entire back is throbbing and I know immediately that I won't be running this morning or the rest of the day. I get dressed in some black skinny jeans and a loose royal blue t-shirt. I put on some spiked bracelets and my combat boots to finish the look. Hopefully no one will be able to bruises.

When I go to put on makeup, I look in the mirror. I look like Hell. My eyes are red and baggy from not sleeping and crying. I do my best to make myself look presentable by putting on mascara, eyeliner, and dabs over cover up to hide the bags under my eyes.

It's already time to leave for school by the time I get downstairs and Christina is waiting for me by her car. She tries to initiate conversation, but I make it pretty clear that I'm not in the mood by not responding to anything she says.

As soon as we get to the parking lot, I walk as quickly as by now fragile body will let me to my first class.

* * *

><p><strong>Well guys, here is the next chapter of Make it Stop! I hope you all love this story as much as I do. I can't believe I didn't write a fanfic sooner because this one has been so much fun:)<strong>

**Thank you MVL2000 for making me aware that my other chapter was in blob form.**

**And thanks to everyone else for the helpful feedback and criticism. I appreciate everything you have to say that could possibly make this story better.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Love,Ty:)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter** **Eight**

**Tris's pov**

Almost the entire day goes by uneventfully. I fell asleep in the first three of them. Needless to say,by the time lunch time rolls around, I am very well rested. My body is still throbbing in pain and my movements are limited. I can't even turn around to tell someone to shut up without wincing or groaning, which then makes it totally unconvincing.

I meet Christina at the lunch line again and we both grab a tray and get our food. Another apple and sliced cake for me even though I didn't eat mine yesterday. When we get to the table, everyone else is already there, talking about Zeke's party Friday and stupid teachers and their retarded homework. I squish in between Christina and Four, which was the only seat left.I just start nibbling on my apple and let my mind go blank.

I'm brought back by a small hand on my back. I wince in pain and lean forward to get it off of me. The pressure on my back immediately disappears,but the extreme pain still remains. Hopefully no one heard that.

I look at Christina just in time to see her put her hand back by her side. "We have been saying your name for like five minutes, but you didn't say anything. We thought you were ignoring us at first, but you were just staring off into space. You okay?" Christina asks gently.

"Umm... yeah,I'm fine. Just thinking."I reassure her quickly even though fine is the farthest thing away from what I am. I look around the table and everyone has already gone back to their conversation. Except one person.

When I look at Four, he is staring right at me. My eyes lock into his and I can't seem to look away. His dark blue orbs are hypnotizing. He has a small frown on his face and he is staring at me with such an intensity that I feel like he is staring right through me. Which is how I know he saw right through my 'I'm fine' lie.

I don't want him to ask questions, so I go back to eating my apple, only to realize that I lost the small appetite I had in the first place. I put my apple back on my tray and quickly leave the lunch room, mumbling something about going to the bathroom. I throw my barely touched apple and untouched cake in the hugenormous trash bins and rush to the library.

I arrive and pull out my copy of "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green.(**A/N:You** **should** **definitely** **read** **it** **if you haven't already ****and** **be** **prepared** **for** **waterworks**!**)** As soon as I get a few pages into it and am absorbed into the lives of Hazel and Augustus, I am pulled from my reading bubble by someone tapping me on the arm.

I jump and turn around slowly, afraid of who might be behind me, rudely interrupting my personal time with my fictional characters. My eyes are tightly squeezed shut, so I don't know who it is until they start talking.

"Tris?" Four's voice starts out curiously and tenderly,"it's okay to open your eyes. I'm not going to hurt you. You don't have to be afraid of me." I exhale shakily and slowly open my eyes."Hey Four, what's up?" I try to say casually, but it comes out all choppy and breathy. I didn't realize just how scared I was. This is what Peter has already done to me.

"You can let yourself feel, it's just me here." And that is all it takes. I don't say anything, just collapse into his arms, silently sobbing. I don't know how I'm going to explain this later, but right now, I couldn't care less. I just want to feel loved by someone, anyone.

In a matter of a few short minutes, Four's shirt has a huge wet spot on it, but he is still holding tightly to me, one hand on my head and the other on my upper shoulders. Either he is purposely avoiding my back or this is just how he always holds girls.

I would hope for the former but then I would need to question how he knows that my back in severely damaged at the moment and I don't want to ruin this, so I don't dwell on it. My tears eventually dry up until the only ones left are the ones dried onto my face and soaked into Four's shirt. The bell ending lunch rang minutes ago, but Four didn't move, so neither did I.

"Thank you. And I'm really sorry about your shirt,"I say quickly to him,embarrassed that I just had a breakdown literally on him. My face is burning from the blush.

"Hey, look at me,"he brings his hand from my head to my chin and lifts it up to look straight at him. My eyes immediately lock into his,"I understand and I will be here whenever you need me. I know what it's like to be hurt."

He can't know about Peter! He just can't."I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know what you mean by hurt. I'm fine."

"If that's what you call fine then you need to see a doctor,"he jokes weakly,"My shirt is evidence that you are totally not fine,"his tone is more serious now.

I've never seen this side of Four before. I've only seen his tough bravado and indifferent personality. Maybe this is the real Four and those are just walls that he puts up to protect himself from being hurt. And maybe, just maybe, we aren't all that different.

I am suddenly so embarrassed that I can't even look him in the eyes. I can't bear to see the amusement he surely has in them from the craziness of my sudden crying fit. I didn't even explain to him why I cried on him for like 20 minutes. It just surprises the hell out of me that he just sat there and held me. Like I didn't need to say a word to him to make him understand what I am going through right now.

I think back to how he held me, purposely avoiding my back. Maybe he really does understand. Or maybe he knows what Peter is doing to me. I was relatively quiet during the beating, but I did accidentally let a few noises escape me. When I look into his eyes again, I can't tell if he knows about Peter or not.

I can only hope that he doesn't. I don't need to get him involved in my problems. It would just get us both in trouble. I don't want to drag him down with me.

Part of me hopes that he does know, just so he can save me, but I immediately reprimand myself for thinking anyone would save me, especially someone like Four.

I finally decide it is time to go to class even thought I don't want to leave."Um,"I start quietly, not quite meeting his eyes,"we should probably head to art. I've made you late enough already."

He immediately shakes his head."It's not your fault I'm late," I start to interrupt,but he cuts me off,"I came in here to check on you. I came in here because I wanted to know that you were okay, which you obviously aren't. I wouldn't have come if I could deal with the consequences,"he raises his still soaked shirt to make a point. I'm surprised he isn't asking me what is wrong and why I just bawled in the middle of the library, but he doesn't. He understands. I don't know how, but he does.

"Well, we still have to get to class."

He smiles at me."If you insist."

We start heading to class when a thought pops into my head."You know that you can't tell anyone about that. I don't want people to think I'm weaker than I already know I am."

He abruptly stops walking, so I stop too."Tris, I haven't known you for very long...or talked to you very much, but I can already tell that you are so very strong. It takes a stronger person to cry than it does for someone to keep their emotions bottled up."

He seems to have something to add and smirks down at me."I promise not to tell anyone about it if you promise not to tell anyone that I'm actually a sweetheart. I have a reputation to uphold."

I laugh out loud at that."I pinky promise,"I say,holding my pinky up, totally serious.

He doesn't question my weird promising tactic, just goes along with it. He interlocks his pinky with mine. I feel tingles in my hand, but ignore it.

We arrive at class almost thirty minutes late. Tori almost says something to punish us, but she takes one look at my puffy, red eyes and closes he mouth after telling us to take a seat.

We sit where we did yesterday, right beside each other. She tells us to sketch the rest of the hour, whatever we want.

A little while later, I look at Four's paper and see that he has incredible talent that I had not expected. He is drawing a city scene. It look like the skyline of Chicago and it is entirely amazing. He got the details perfect. He just keeps getting better and better.

The rest of the hour, I just watch Four perfect his drawing. It is awe inspiring. He finally notices me staring at his amazing drawing and furrows his brow. I find myself thinking that I've never seen anything more adorable in my life, but tell myself that I need to quit having these thoughts. "What are you looking at? Is something wrong?" It's weird how he is so worried about me now, but it isn't bad. I kind of like it.

"No! You're art is just really incredible,"I respond.

He blushes, the tips of his ears and his cheeks turning pink. I was totally wrong about the adorable thing. This is it.

"Thanks Tris. I saw what you did yesterday and it was pretty amazing. I think you have me beat,"he tells factually, like if he were telling me the percentage of the chance of rain this afternoon.

Now it is my turn to blush. He just grins at me and turns back to his drawing. The bell rings a few minute later. Time to go to music class.

I walk in with Four and he sits beside me yet again. I can't find it in me to mind. I'm just surprised he would actually want to sit by me. Soon, Zeke comes to sit beside Four with Lynn and Shauna. Uriah and Christina sit on the other side of me.

"Okay guys. Listen up!"Tori yell to quiet us,"we are going to finish the contest today. Let's have the remaining people take their turns and then I will have all of you vote for ONE person you thought had the most talent."

Hands go up, but she continues."No, you may not vote for yourself,"half the hands go down.

"no, you may not vote for your friends unless they had extreme talent."the other half goes down.

"Alright,"Tori starts,"who's up?" One by one, we finish the rest of the turns. None of them were exceptional. I'm betting on Lynn and Four being the finalists. Tori addresses the class again,"Alright! Get a strip of paper and write who you think was the best and who deserves to win the hundred bonus points because of their talent!"

Everyone starts writing names on paper. I scribble down 'Four' and turn in the paper to Tori. He was the best and he deserves to win. Lynn was extremely good, but his voice just had something about it and he used it to its full advantage.

Once Tori has collected all of the papers, she starts reading them to herself and making tally marks on a piece of paper. After about five minutes, she is finished.

"Well,"she begins,"we have two clear winners! Usually I disagree with your decisions, you being teenagers and all, but this time I am all for it. These two absolutely deserve the chance to win 100 bonus points."

"And those two people are...Four..."there is a wave of applause for him. Obviously everyone else thought his voice was amazing too,"...and Tris!"

I am in shock. I didn't expect anyone to vote for me, but I hear just as much clapping for me as they did for Four. We are the finalists! I look at Four and he is looking right back at me, grinning.

I smile back at him. "Congratulations,"I tell him.

"You too."

Tori quiets everyone down."Okay guys! Time for the finalists to have their sing off! Four, since I called your name first, you are the first to go."

He picks up a guitar and starts singing and playing to one of my favorite songs. Pompeii by Bastille.

Eh-eh-o eh-o [6x]

I was left to my own devices

Many days fell away with nothing to show

And the walls kept tumbling down

In the city that we love

Great clouds roll over the hills

Bringing darkness from above

But if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like

Nothing changed at all?

And if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like

You've been here before?

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

We were caught up and lost in all of our vices

In your pose as the dust settled around us

And the walls kept tumbling down

In the city that we love

Great clouds roll over the hills

Bringing darkness from above

But if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like

Nothing changed at all?

And if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like

You've been here before?

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

Eh-eh-o eh-o [4x]

Oh where do we begin?

The rubble or our sins?

Oh oh where do we begin?

The rubble or our sins?

And the walls kept tumbling down

(oh where do we begin?)

In the city that we love

(the rubble or our sins?)

Great clouds roll over the hills

(oh where do we begin?)

Bringing darkness from above

(the rubble or our sins?)

But if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like

Nothing changed at all?

And if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like

You've been here before?

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

If you close your eyes,

does it almost feel like

nothing changed at all?

Eh-eh-o eh-o[8x]

After he finishes, I know that it is going to be a hard act to follow. He was spectacular. I can't compare it to anything else I've ever heard before. He knows how to work his voice in just the right way to make it sound not flawless, but perfect in a way that I wouldn't change a single thing.

Tori calls me up to stage next. When I walk up to stage I pass Four. Right before he is out of my reach, he grabs my hand. The tingles from the pinky promise are back full force. It's crazy how he can get such a reaction out of me even though I've only known him for a few days.

"Good luck,"he tells me.

"Thanks. You were amazing up there by the way."

I feel dumb for saying it, but I think it's appropriate since I did kind of just soak his shirt with my tears while he held me. I don't really think this crosses the line.

I go up there and sit at the piano. I though about it yesterday, and I think my mom would be proud of me for playing again. I put my fingers on the keys, and they feel so familiar. It feels like I never stopped playing. I begin to play Skinny Love by Birdy.

Come on skinny love just last the year,

Pour a little salt we were never here,

My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...

Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer.

Tell my love to wreck it all,

Cut out all the ropes and let me fall,

My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...

Right in the moment this order's tall.

And I told you to be patient,

And I told you to be fine,

And I told you to be balanced,

And I told you to be kind,

And in the morning I'll be with you,

But it will be a different kind,

'Cause I'll be holding all the tickets,

And you'll be owning all the fines.

Come on skinny love,

what happened here?

Suckle on the hope in light brassieres,

My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...

Sullen load is full, so slow on the split.

And I told you to be patient,

And I told you to be fine,

And I told you to be balanced,

And I told you to be kind,

And now all your love is wasted,

Then who the hell was I?

'Cause now I'm breaking at the britches,

And at the end of all your lines.

Who will love you?

Who will fight?

And who will fall far behind?

Come on skinny love,

My my my, my my my, my-my my-my...

My my my, my my my, my-my my-my.

I finish the song and feel fresh tears in my eyes,but I blink them back. I look to the class, but they don't clap. They just stare. I quickly walk back to my seat, embarrassed. Their eyes follow me and their head swivel to meet my movements.

Why aren't they doing anything? Was I that bad?They can either boo or clap. Anything would be better than nothing. I can't read any of the emotions on their faces.

Finally, Christina gets up and hug me."That was amazing girl." The class finally starts clapping, and it is deafening. I hadn't expected this.

I look to Tori and Four to see them clapping along with everyone else. I can't read their emotions either. Tori goes up to the microphone."Well,we have a clear winner. While Four's performance was fantastic, Tris,"she looks to me"you have so much talent. I've never seen that amount of emotion poured into a performance. There are no words to describe it. You are the winner, no question about it."

I bashfully look down and mumble a 'thanks.' Everyone is still staring at me, so I just look at the ground until Four taps on my shoulder. "That was the most amazing performance I have ever seen. You have crazy talent;you should do something with it. You really deserved to win,"he whispers.

"Thank you. That means a lot." I know he was joking in the hallway,but he really is a sweetheart. He let me cry on him, told me that my art was amazing, and now here he is telling me that I could make something of myself and my talent. No one but my mom has ever encouraged me like this before. It's refreshing.

The bell rings to end the day. There is no track practice today so I meet up with Christina and head to her car. We drive home talking about all kinds of thing and for once, I actually feel like a teenage girl.

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><p><strong>Thank you for all of y'alls feedback. It means so much to me that people actually like my story.<strong>

**I tried putting some Fourtris in here as requested, so I hope it is okay. I haven't had a boyfriend since junior high. (Not because I can't get one, but because I don't really like people.) So I'm not the best at romance.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. I wouldn't be writing this story if y'all didn't.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Love,Ty:) **


	9. Chapter 9

**To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.**

**-Ralph Waldo Emerson**

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><p><strong>Chapter<strong> **Nine**

**Tris's pov**

Thursday and Friday go by as normal. I get through my classes with no trouble. I see everybody at lunch and they interrogate me as usual. The routine is becoming strangely comforting, something constant in my unpredictable life.

Peter has been out lately, going wherever he goes with Molly and his friend Drew. Probably to sell drugs or terrorize little kids. But at least I haven't had to deal with him since last time. My body is still sore from that night. I'm not used to being so brutally hurt. What Eric did to me was worse, but this has a worse effect on my body.

Right as Christina and I get home from school, she grabs me tightly by the arm and drags me to her room.

"Christina! What the hell are you doing?"I yell, "let me go!"

She finally pushes me into a chair in front of a mirror. I'm relieved she isn't restricting the blood flow of my arm until I see her pull out a rope. I try to run away, but she pushes me back down roughly and starts wrapping the rope around both me and the chair quicker than lightning. "Zeke's party is tonight and I'm going to make you look sexy!"She screams.

"Well, don't you think this was just a bit dramatic? Tying my down to a freaking chair?"

"I know for a fact that you don't like makeup, so I didn't want to take my chances,"she responds.

"How did you know that I don't like makeup?"I ask, confused. The only times I wear makeup are when I need to cover something like bags under my eyes, like the day after Peter first beat me, my first night here.

"The only people that don't wear makeup are the ones that aren't used to it. Once you start wearing it, you never go back."

"Like the saying 'once you go black, you never go back'?" I question.

"Well doesn't Little Miss Trissy just catch on so fast,"she says in a baby voice.

I growl at her, but let her do my makeup instead of fighting. I hate makeup, but maybe she can make me look at least the least bit pretty. That would take a miracle. She turns me away from the mirror so I can't see her 'masterpiece'.

I move so much when she starts to put on the foundation that she has to practically sit frontwards on my lap and hold my face with one hand while she puts the shit on with the other. I have finally stopped squirming my the time I have foundation, powder, and blush on.

She starts to put the eye shadow on, but I flinch as soon as it comes into contact with my eye lid. "Hey, calm down,"she says,"this is the worst part since its like touching your eye. Most people tend to get pretty jumpy their first time. Just relax and keep your eyes closed."

I reluctantly do and she say -or the best I can. I jump every once in a while. I'm not accustomed to people using pokey things near my eyeballs. It sounds extremely dangerous and potentially painful.

The next thing is so much worse. Eyeliner. I've tried putting on before, but I kept on stabbing myself in the eye, so that was out of the question. She senses my reluctance and warns me to keep my eyes open. She touches it to my eye, and I twitch.

"Calm the hell down! I'm not trying to kill you!"She yells after the fourth try. She finally gets me to keep my eyes open for long enough for her to put it on me. It's awful!

"Okay! I'm done, now you make marvel at my greatness!"She says.

I start to say how she can't make me the least bit pretty, but she cuts me off by turning me around to face the mirror. And I am shocked speechless. She didn't make me pretty. Or beautiful. Or sexy. She made me striking.

"Chris,"I start in an awed voice,"this is amazing. How did you do this."

"Well, believe it or not, you gave me a lot to work with. I don't know how you don't see it, but you are beautiful."

I'm not saying I agree with her, but when she says it like that, it makes it a lot more believable. When I look at myself again, I'm still completely shocked at my own reflection. She didn't cover my flaws, only enhanced them and used them to their fullest extent.

She used a nude, sparkly lip gloss to make my average lips shine. She used the blush to make my pale face look like it has the least bit of color, but she made it look natural. But what gets me are my eyes.

She used a shiny gold and deep black to make a smoky eye and bring out the gold flecks in my eyes, which nobody can ever see. She used dark blue eyeliner to enhance my eyes. They are striking. The dark blue eyeliner makes my usually indistinct eyes pop.

I am finally noticeable, and once I establish that, I realize I like it. I'm so sick and tired of being a nobody. A skinny, short girl that nobody knows and could be mistaken for half the people on the planet. I'm tired of not being important and seen. I want to be special, and what Christina just did with my makeup makes me feel that way, when if only for a little while.

She finally gets me to stop gawking at myself in the mirror and walks to he closet, still not untying me. She gets out a short black dress with long sleeves. I'm not sure, but I think this could be the perfect think to cover my back. Even though I'm not crazy about the length, I tell her I will try it on anyways. She unties me from the chair and drags me by the arm to the bathroom.

Once we get there, she pushes me, the dress, and some black flats in and closes the door as fast as she can, like I might try to escape or something. Normally I would, but right now, I feel beautiful, so I'm going to try this damn dress on and have fun at that party!

After undressing, I pull the dress onto my body, avoiding the cuts that Peter inflicted that still haven't healed. Once the dress is on, it only comes to right above my mid thigh, but I'm so far passed caring. I turn around and see that it covers my back perfectly. The neckline is a little low for my taste, but I can deal with it.

I step out the door to Christina, and she immediately squeals. "Omg,Tris! You look sexy! I knew this dress would be hot on you! And once again, you may admire my skills of perfection."

I just smile and roll my eyes."Thank you so much Christina. I feel really beautiful, and I haven't felt that in a really long time."

"Well I think you deserve to feel beautiful all the time. You're gorgeous babe! Now sit down or I will be forced to tie you up again."

I do as she says. She ends up curling my long, dull blond hair. When she finishes, my usually extraordinary hair is in amazing, perfect ringlets. She adds hairspray as a final touch then goes to the closet for her outfit.

I grin at her."So what are you going to wear? Something sexy for Will?"

"You know it,girl!" She ends up with a dark red dress that is so revealing it makes me blush and some tall black pumps. Her hair is already curly from school, so she spends about thirty minutes doing he makeup. When she finishes, she looks even more amazing than before.

We go to her car and head to Zeke's house for my first ever party. It's crazy that I'm not nervous about it. I always thought I would be. We drive for about 10 minutes and park one the side of the street. The music is so loud that I could hear it minutes before we got here. We start walking towards the huge house that the music is coming from.

Christina doesn't even knock on the door, just goes right in like she has done it a million times before. I then remind myself that she probably has. We are greeted by what looks to be a very drunk Zeke with a red solo cup of who knows what in it.

"Hullu Tristina and Chris! I'm so glad you came." Okay, maybe he's just tipsy. Besides the name part, his sentence was pretty comprehendable.

"And may I say so myself, you girls look sexy as fuck! Tris! Since when do you show off how hot you are? I always knew you had it, you should show it more often."

I blush deep red and mumble out a 'thanks.' Christina leans down to my ear and yells over the noise,"I'm gonna go find Will! You gonna be okay here by yourself?"

I just roll my eyes at her and give her a playful shove."Go get him tiger!"

She weaves her way through the crowd until I've lost her in the sea of people surrounding me. I decide I need something to drink, so I try to find a kitchen in this freaking hugenormous house. I try squeezing my way through the people, but they just try to dance with me.

One boy,obviously drunk, grabs me aggressively by my waist, his hands heavily resting on my aching back. "Hey babe. How about you and I get out of here?"

I wince loudly due to the pain and he must hear it, because he digs his nails into it further, pushing right into one of the worst cuts, definitely, excruciatingly ripping it open again. I then scream out, loud enough for a few people to look, but the music is so loud that no one else really hears. I try to get away, but the pain only increases.

But all at once, the hands are of of me.

I turn around to see Four pummeling the boy who was hurting me. He is sending countless blows into his nose, ribs, chest, anywhere he can. He won't let up and I'm afraid that Four is going to kill the boy. Just as Four is about to send another punch, I gently put a hand on his arm.

He immediately turns to look at me and takes my breath away. His pupils are dialated so much that his eyes are almost fully black. I can barely see the beautiful dark blue that usually calm me down. He abruptly stands up and shakes his head, like he is shaking himself out of a trance.

He looks at me fleetingly and runs up the stairs, leaving me alone with a very bloody and bruised boy. I leave the douche boy to go find Four. I run up the stairs as quickly as I can with my newest injury of a reopened wound. I have to avoid moving my upper body as much as possible. I get up the stairs and am pleasently surprised by the lack of people up here. It must be off limits or something.

I find the only door with a light on and open it slowly. I see Four holding his bloody hand under the sink, his head down. I don't think he has noticed me yet. I slowly step into the bathroom."Hey."

He doesn't look at me, only begins to speak."I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose it like that. I just saw him hurting you and I...I...I saw red. I wanted to kill him. And I would have if you hadn't stopped me."

I can't believe he thinks he did something wrong. He just stopped someone from hurting me. Who knows what else that guy would have done if Four hadn't come and stopped him.

"Hey, do **not** apologize to me for something like that. He was hurting me and you saved me from further pain. I should be thanking you."

"Don't thank me for hurting someone. Nobody should ever be hurt,"he states looking meaningfully into my eyes, seemingly reminding me of all the pain I've been through, even though he doesn't know the half of it.

"Do you know what else he would have done to me? If you hadn't gotten him away from me, things could be a whole lot worse right now."

"Are you okay? Why did you scream? What did he do to you? I can still go kill him if you need me to."He says in a rush, completely disregarding hemispheres nonviolence lecture.

I remember that my back is torn open and throbbing, but it isn't like I can tell him that or I would have to tell him where I got the belt slashes. I just hope it isn't bleeding too bad, so it won't show through my dress. I'll probably have to find a way to find a way to stop the bleeding without anyone knowing.

"I'm fine, thanks to you," I lie. He instantly calls my bluff and a look of concern covers his face. I need to change the subject before he starts asking questions."Let's go back downstairs. I'm thirsty."I state walking out of the bathroom and down the steps, not waiting for his response.

I quickly find my way to the kitchen and search for a drink. All I can find in beer, so I settle for that. I've never had one or been drunk, but tonight is as good of a night as any. I take a sip and try to get past the bitter taste. I take a few more sips and find myself enjoying it. I quickly gulp down the rest and grab another.

I'm about to take my first sip when a hand stops me. I look up only to find Zeke with an amused expression on his face. "Have you ever had one of these before?"

"No, but there's a first time for everything," I joke, already feeling light headed. I guess this is the effect of drinking a beer in like 20 seconds flat.

He laughs. "You might want to slow down if you don't want to throw up everywhere and wake up feeling like you got hit by a train... or you can come play Kings Cup and wake up feeling like you got hit by an even bigger train!"

I groan playfully and agree. He starts to usher me to the main room and puts a hand on the small of my back. I jump back and wince. I'm about to explain myself,with a lie of coarse, when I turn back around, but am stopped in my tracks.

Zeke is looking down at the hand he had on my back. It is covered in blood. My blood.

It isn't dripping or anything, but it is all over the palm of his hand. There is absolutely no way to explain this. "On second thought, I better get home and go to bed. I'm pretty exhausted. You wouldn't believe how tired being tied up to a chair while Christina makes you pretty makes you."

I quickly weave through the people and find Christina."Hey I'm leaving, can I have your car keys? And can you just get a ride home with Will or someone?"

"You're going already? We just got here. And you look smokin' hot!"

I fake a smile."I'm just tired and really need to get home."

"Okay,"she responds. She then gracefully dips her hand into her bra and pulls out her car keys. I take them without question even though it is gross and couldn't have been comfortable.

I quickly make my way out to the car and start to drive away. I am rudely interrupted by a banging on the car. It's Zeke. Again. I don't have any lies thought out to tell him to get him to not ask questions about my bloody back, so I keep driving.

"What happened?"He screams at me through the window.

I stop the car and roll the window down to talk to him. "Please just stop asking questions. I'll be fine, just please don't tell anyone. I'm begging you."

I can tell that he doesn't understand, but he must be more drunk than I thought because he nods his head in agreement."I won't for now, but later I want an explanation. Just keep yourself safe, okay?"

"Thanks Zeke. For everything."

And at the I speed of towards the house, trying to fight the dizziness from the blood loss. I must be bleeding a lot. I need to get home quick. I grab one of the jackets that I left in here on the way to school and put it under me and behind my back so that I don't stain Christina's seats and so that she won't ask questions.

I make it to the house in just under five minutes because I drove like 90 miles per hour the whole way. I hop out of the car, grab my bloody jacket, and make my way to my room. I peel the skin tight dress off of my body, which proves to be a pain. It is suctioned to my back and it is stuck to the skin of the bleeding wound.

I pull it off like a bandaid and scream into my clenched teeth, muffling the noise. I hold the dress in my hands and see the blood dripping off of it. I run it under the sink water for almost five minutes trying to get as much as I can out. I'm finally satisfied with the outcome and feel a sense of victory until I look to the floor.

It is red under my feet. I look at my legs to see the blood running rapidly down them. I turn around to see my back I'm the mirror and can't contain the gasp that escapes me.

The once scanned over wound is now torn ragged and pouring blood. This is obviously going to be a major problem. The first thing I need to do is stop the bleeding. I quickly grab a towel and press it to my back even though it hurts to do so.

After about 10 minutes, I pull it off. The bleeding has slowed down considerably. Enough for me to get cleaned up. I turn the shower on scalding hot and step in. The steam rises all around me as I wash my aching body. The water, like magic, helps numb it. I finally have to sit down because I am so dizzy from all of that blood loss. I can't believe I haven't passed out yet.

After what seems like forever I finally decide to get out since the water has turned cold. I get out of the shower and look at my back in the mirror again and am overcome with relief.

The bleeding has completely stopped. I wipe up the excess blood everywhere and puddle of it off the floor with the towel that I used to stop the bleeding . I'll need to throw it away because I will never be able to get that out or explain it. Christina's dress will be fine after a wash since it is black.

I change into boxer shorts and a huge one of my dad's old t-shirts that I brought with me. I've had it since right before my first foster home. Before I was placed, they let me go back to our house and pack my things and I packed some of Caleb's books, Mom's favorite music, and a couple of Dad's shirts along with all of the things I needed.

When I smell the shirt, it still smells like him. It's so comforting.

After quickly sneaking downstairs and throwing away the towel in the garbage outside and putting Christina's dress in the washer, I quietly make my way back to my room. I fall into the bad, careful not to further irritate the cuts and finally succumb to the dizziness and tiredness I've been feeling from the blood loss.

My last thought before I fall into unconsciousness is 'that was a really bad party.'

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><p><strong>Thank y'all for all the reviews and positive feedback!<strong>

**This story is so much fun to write and I'm glad that y'all enjoy it:) This chapter is over 3000 words and one of my new favorites:)**

**A special shout out to melC92! Thank you for all your inspiration and freaking fantastic ideas.**

**If y'all want to read the most amazing Hunger Games fanfiction, I highly suggest Sever by DendelionSunset. I guarantee that it will Blow. Your. Mind.**

**Please keep reviewing and reading my story.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Love,Ty:)**


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm not saying that everything is survivable. Just that everything except the last thing is." John Green

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><p><strong> Chapter<strong> **ten**

**Zeke's** **pov**

Ever since the party yesterday, I could stop thinking about the blood that appeared on my hand after I put my hand on Tris's back. I know that I was a little tipsy, but the image of her blood almost dripping off of my hand is imprinted into my mind. What could have made her bleed to the point where it was seeping through the back of her dress?

I should never have let her leave. I know I tried to get her to stop, but in the end, I just let her drive off. I'm almost positive she is somewhere hurt. What if she didn't make it home last night? It would be all my fault if anything happened to her. I need to know that she's okay.

Tris has only been at our school for a little while, but I already consider her one of us. I feel protective of her, like a big brother. I can't just sit here not knowing if she is alright or not. I decide to call Christina.

She picks up on the fifth ring."Hello?" She sounds groggy, like she just woke up. It's like 10:00. She usually wakes up way earlier than this. Maybe she just drank too much last night.

"Hey Chris, I was wondering if you knew where Tris was. She d Went home really suddenly last night. Is she alright?" I don't want to tell Christina about the blood just yet. I love her like a sister, but she can't ever keep her mouth shut.

"Are you seriously waking me up just to see if Tris made it home? Couldn't you have waited just a little while? I have a killer hangover and I want to sleep for as long as humanly possible." She sounds mad, but right now I don't care. I need to know if Tris is okay.

"Just check on her please? For me?"

"Whatever. You owe me one."

I hear footsteps and the slam of a door, then more footsteps. I hear her opening another door. It must be Tris's. "Yes, Zeke. Tris is fast asleep in her bed. I could have told you that before you made me GET OUT OF MY BED! My car was in the garage last night when I got back. I already knew she was home."

Her attitude is starting to piss me off."Wouldn't you have wanted to know if anything had happened to her? She left really abruptly without telling anyone why."I say, again leaving out the real reason I was so concerned.

She buffs. "Of course I would. Well, I'm going back to bed. Bye Zeke." And with that, she hangs up. I guess she's okay if she in bed sleeping. That has gotta mean she was okay enough to get into bed. I'll wait until Monday to confront her about it. Until then, I might as well do something fun.

I go to Four's, which just so happens to be Tris's house also, so I guess I could have checked on her myself instead of waking Christina up to do it. I pull up at their mansion and let myself in, like I've done a million times before. Four and I have been friends since he moved here in tenth grade. He had already been to a few foster homes before that, but he always liked it here the best. Max doesn't mind keeping him, so Four will stay here until he turns 18 and is out of the foster system.

I walk into the kitchen and see Four guzzling water like he hasn't had any in months. He must have just gotten back from a run. He turns to me when he is finally done."What's up?"

"Let's go get tattoos." I say, excited. To anybody else, this would be a weird request. But almost everyone at school has tattoos, most of them are just hidden by their clothes.

"Okay. I've been wanting another for a while now. I'll go get a shower and then we'll leave." He run up the steps to take a shower and comes back down five minutes later, dressed in jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He grabs his keys and says,"My car."

We get to Tori's tattoo parlor in about ten minutes. We have been getting tattoos at Tori's since last year. I have two small ones and Four has one that covers his entire back. He has never let me see it, and I respect that, even though I don't know why he won't let anyone see his back. Except for Tori. He is always so much more open around Tori, she is like a mom to him.

Tori smiles when she sees us."Back for more boys?"

"Of course. You know we can't stay away from you Tori."I jokingly respond.

"I get that a lot. So what do you guys want?"

"I was thinking a dragon on my bicep,"I say.

"Good choice."She tells me.

"What about you Four?"

"I want some flames along my side. Right here."he says, pulling up his shirt and pointing to his entire left side.

"I think that sounds like a great idea. They are going to look awesome."she says, now addressing the both of us. She calls in Bud, the other tattoo artist, and we each take a seat in the tattoo chairs, Four in the one right beside me. Four pulls off his shirt after sitting down so that Tori can do the tattoo on his side, but he sits back too quickly for me to get a glance at his back.

They start tracing the outlines in pen after the rub antiseptic on our chosen tattoo spots to make sure they are clean and don't get infected later on. After we approve of what the outlines look like, they get started, and we all start talking.

"Four, your performance the other day was amazing. I've heard you sing before, but I've never heard you sing like that. Tris's performance was just unlike anything I've ever heard before. I still can't believe such a big voice came from such a little girl."Tori says.

"Thanks Tor. I'm still really glad that Tris won. She really deserved it. I've never heard someone put that much emotion into a song. You could tell that singing and playing the piano are really special to her. She looked so confident up on that stage. That's the first time I've seen her look comfortable in her own skin."

It's pretty obvious now that Four has been paying a lot of attention to Tris. Tori must notice too. "Wow, Four. It isn't like you to talk like you're writing a fortune cookie."she jokes.

"It's what she does to me. I don't know what it is about her, I just want to pay attention to everything she does, how she reacts, what she likes. I never noticed a girl until she came along." Wow. He's in deep.

"You totally like her. And I give my blessing to you both. I absolutely approve of Tris. From what I've seen, she's pretty amazing."Tori says.

"That means a lot Tor. You know you are like my mom,"he replies.

"I don't know if I'll need it anyways. She was acting really weird at the party. This dude, some sophomore, was grabbing her pretty roughly and she screamed. I don't know what he did, but I just lost it. I swear I would have killed him is she hadn't stopped me."

"When I asked her why she screamed, she totally avoided my question and said she was thirsty. She just ran back downstairs. She acted really weird, like she was trying to hide something from me. I tried to follow her, but I couldn't find her. When I asked Christina where she was later, she said that Tris had already left."

The whole time their conversation is going on, the blood on my hand from her back keeps popping into my head. I can't even begin to imagine what it came from. I don't want to tell anyone and make her perpetually mad at me, but at the same time, I need more opinions. I finally speak up."Umm, guys...speaking of Tris acting weird at that party on Friday, I need to get something off of my chest and I need you both to tell me what you think I should do afterwards."

They both look at me, worried, but nod their heads for me to continue.

"I went into the kitchen to get me something else to drink and I ran into her in the kitchen. She was on at least he second beer. So we talked for a little bit and I invited her to play Kings Cup with all of us."

I take a deep breath and keep going. "She said okay, so I went to usher her into where we were playing. When I put my hand on her back, she winced, so I took it off. I was a little tipsy, but I was not hallucinating or anything. When I looked back at my hand, it was covered in her blood. I had just barely touched her back, but it was seeping out of her dress."

They have identical looks of horror on their faces.

I want to get this over with, so I finish out the story. "Then she got all worried and made an excuse to leave, saying she was tired because Christina has tied her to a chair and forced her to wear makeup. Then she just ran away. I tried to get through the crowd to ask her for an explanation, but Christina said that she was leaving."

"I ran out there and caught up to her just as she was driving away. I finally got her to stop and asked her about it, but she just told me not to tell anyone about it. I didn't know what else to do, so I agreed. Then this morning, I was really worried about her, so I called Christina and made her check on Tris and she said that she was sleeping in her bed. I figured she was okay for now, but I really have no clue what to do. Why would she have so much blood on her at a party?"

**Four's** **pov**

I can't think. I can barely even hear Zeke through the entire story. What could have happened to her that would have given her a bloody back? How could I have not known when we talked upstairs?

Tori is the first to speak up."Maybe she wasn't hurt by someone, maybe it was self-inflicted."

"No! Tris would never do anything like that. She is way too strong to let that happen,"I respond.

"What other explanation is there as to why she was bleeding at a party. Why would she have even come to a party if she knew she was hurt?"Tori asks. I start going through options in my head and none of them are reasonable answers.

And then it hit me. "Someone else hurt her and she already knew about it, she just didn't expect it to start bleeding again. That's the only reason she would act so weird and run out so quickly."

Now it is Zeke's turn to talk. "She didn't even act surprised when she saw my hand. She just looked really scared, like she didn't want me to find out whatever she is hiding. And she made me promise not to tell, so that's even more reason to believe that she already knew about it. She didn't get hurt at my party, she got hurt before."

All of this reminds me of Marcus. Of what he used to do to me, and it makes sense. Something similar is happening to Tris. Someone is hurting her, and a wound reopened at the party. I can't stand the thought of my Tr- I mean, Tris going through the same thing that I had to go through for most of my life. She doesn't deserve it.

"Someone is hurting her and she is too afraid to say anything about it." I look to Tori. "Tor, we have got to help her. It isn't going to stop, she's being abused. I know that she isn't going to tell anyone because she's too scared. I know what its like Tor. We have to do something."

I see Zeke's eyes widen when I saw 'I know what it's like.' Maybe it's finally time to tell him. I should have told him a long time ago, I just didn't want him to be my friend out of pity. Before he can say anything, I ask Tori if I can stand up. She say,"Yeah, both of you are done. We finished a while ago." I stand up and turn around, my back facing Zeke. I hear him walking up behind me and I hear a gasp. "What happened?"

"My dad. He used to abuse me. That's why I'm in foster care." It's feels good to be r about it. No sugar coating it. I am still reluctant to give too many details away. It will take a while before I tell him the whole story.

"What are these marks from?"He asks.

"What aren't they from? Sometime it was a belt, leather or metal side, sometimes it was his keys, or a burning fire poker, or anything else he could get his hands on."

Even though there is a giant tattoo covering them, they are still visible. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

I feel bad for not telling Zeke, I just wasn't ready. "The only person I ever told is Tori, and that was because she tattooed my back. She needed and explanation. I'm sorry I never told you, I just didn't want you to be my friend out of pity."

"Man, that would never happen. We're brothers." This could have turned out a lot worse. I feel so much better now that I've told him.

"I hate to break this up,"Tori interrupts, "but, what are we going to do about Tris? We can't just leave her to get hurt. Where is she right now?"

Zeke answers her."She was in bed sleeping when we left to come here."

"Well, let's get your tattoos patched up and we are going to go talk to Tris."

After Tori finishes, we ride in my car to the house. I don't know what we are going to do once we get to Tris, but we have to try something. I can't stand the thought of just ignorantly letting the abuse continue. I'm sure that's what it is -abuse. It's the only logical explanation as to why she would act like that at the party. She ran out so quickly and totally avoided my questions when I tried to ask if she was alright and what happened to make her scream.

I know that Tris would never hurt herself. I can't believe Tori even suggested it. Tris is above that. She is too strong to let people get to her that much. I just wish she knew that she could come to me for anything. After that day after lunch, I thought that maybe she felt that she could trust me.

We quietly let ourselves into Tris's room where she is still fast asleep in her bed. It's almost 11:30. Tris always wakes up early, so why is she still asleep? I don't want to wake her up, but we need to talk.

I look at Zeke and Tori and tell them to be quiet and that I'm going to wake her up. Her back is facing up, covered by the blanket, but her face is turned towards me. I kneel by her bed and move her hair out of her face. That's when I notice that something is off.

She is so pale and her breathing is shallow. I put my hand on her shoulder, avoiding her back since it seems to be the place where she is hurt, and slightly shake her. "Tris,"I say quietly.

She doesn't move. It is starting to scare me. I shake her a little harder, but she still doesn't do anything.

I say her name louder. "Tris, wake up." Still, nothing happens. I feel her pulse, and its weak. We need to get he help.

I look at Zeke and Tori."She's barely breathing and her pulse is weak. We need to get her to a hospital, now."

They run over to me, worried. I start to pick her up to carry her to the car. But when I pull the covers away from her, I'm absolutely horrified by what I see. Tris's giant shirt is stuck to her body, glued by blood. What was a gray shirt, is now scarlet red. It is still oozing out. It's so much blood. It's too much blood.

That is why she won't wake up. She's losing too much blood. I do the impossible and peel the shirt away from her back to see what is causing it. I have to turn away as soon as I see it so that I won't throw up or scream.

"What the hell?" Zeke says. I just shake my head, disgusted that this happened to her.

Her entire back is covered in slashes. The flesh is torn ragged and running up the entire length of her back. I know from experience that they came from a belt. They look relatively fresh. The majority of the blood is coming from one of the worst wounds. It covers from her shoulder blade all the way to her lower back.

I don't realize I'm crying until I can't see anymore. The colors are blurring together, but even now, all I can see is the red of her back. There is so much blood. We need to get her to a hospital.

I dry my tears and gingerly lift her up over my shoulder to avoid her back. She is so light even though she is dead weight. She must not even weight 100 pounds. I easily carry her downstairs and to the car. I give Tori the keys to drive to the hospital and sit in the back seat with Tris, her lying across my lap to avoid her back. Tori starts the car and starts speeding off to the hospital.

I can't believe this is actually happening right now. I can't believe anyone could ever hurt someone like Tris. If I ever find out who did it, they are going to wish they were dead if I don't actually kill them first.

Tris still isn't moving the entire way to the hospital, even though I try to shake her. I even talk to her.

"Tris,"I whisper into her hair. "It's going to be okay. It will get better. I promise you. Just hold in there a little longer. We're getting you help, you are going to be fine. And then I'm going to kill the bastard that did this to you. Just hang on for a **little** while longer. Don't leave me."

I'm saying these word to reassure myself as much her. I need for her to be okay. I need her to survive this. Tori squeals into the hospital parking lot and stops in front of the doors for me to carry Tris into the hospital. And that is exactly what I do.

I get out of the car, moving her head out of my lap, and then carefully maneuver her to lay in my arms without touching her back. And I sprint into the hospital. I get in and there is nobody in the entry, I don't see a single doctor or nurse, not even a janitor.

"Help! I need help!"I scream.

A nurse comes rushing to me. She takes one look at Tris and yells for someone to get a stretcher.

"What happened?"she asks. "She lost a lot of blood and she's unconscious. She won't respond to anything I do. She has to live."

I realize that I am crying again. The nurse's eyes soften and she takes Tris from my arms, not even asking why she is losing blood. Maybe she thinks I'll explode or something.

She starts to wheel Tris off, away from me.

"I need to go with her!"I scream. "Let me go with her!"

"Sir, you need to stay in the waiting room, we can't help her if you are there,"she says calmly.

I am helpless. I sink to my knees and sob. I haven't cried like this since I was little. I didn't even cry like this when I watched Marcus murder my mother.

What did Tris ever do to deserve being hurt like that. She unconscious. I can't lose her.

I hear footsteps and feel Tori sink down next to me. She doesn't say anything, just wraps her arms around me and kisses my forehead. "Shh. She's gonna be alright. She's okay."

"She's hurt. You saw her b-b-back. What is she d-doesn't make it. What if she isn't o-okay? How could someone d-d-do this to her?"

"I know baby. It's okay." She continues whispering comforting word in my ears until the rest of the world falls away and I fall the deep, empty darkness of sleep.

**Thank y'all so much for all the review!**

**Most of the credit for the ideas in this chapter goes to melC92. Thank you for being so fricken fantastic and a genius. I couldn't have done this without you suggestions.**

**I would also like to give a shout out to teentastic for answering all of my questions, no matter the time or subject. You give me something to do during the day.**

**This is a really dramatic chapter and I absolutely love it! It is my favorite yet:) **

**It's pretty long, which always makes me happy with other fanfics, so I hope it makes y'all happy too.**

**It is my longest fanfic yet! Over four thousand words!**

**I love writing this story, so I hope y'all love reading it. **

**A reviewer asked how often I updated, so here is the answer: I update as soon as I finish the chapter. Most of the time it is once or twice a week. I try to update as often as possible, but I can only write so fast. I put a lot of work into this fanfic, so I want to take my time on it and make it up to y'alls standard.**

**And I really need to keep writing so that this chapter is actually over four thousand words, even though I already told y'all that it was. I need seven more words. And three, two, one! This chapter is officially over 4000 words:)**

**Always leave a review after reading, good or bad. They make me happy!**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:) **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter** **Eleven**

**Tori's** **Pov**

Four has been pacing the hallways like crazy ever since he woke up. He won't listen to Zeke or me when we tell him that he needs to sit down or get something to eat.

I was so surprised when he broke down like that. He has never done anything like that, at least not in front of me. It hurt to see him so broken;he is usually so strong. He cares so much for Tris, and now that she is hurt, it is like he is too. I think he feels guilty that he didn't notice that something was seriously wrong with Tris when he talked to her at the party. I hate that he blames himself.

I'm happy that he at least got a little sleep, right after we got here and after he cried in my arms. He slept for almost an hour after Zeke and I carried him to a stretcher that was out in the hallway. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't allowed, but who cares? It's not like they were using it.

We have been out here in the waiting room for three hours and there hasn't been any news about Tris. It's literally driving Four crazy. He thinks that the longer she's in there, the worse her injuries are or the more things there are going wrong.

I don't know what happened to Tris to make her bleed enough for her to pass out, but I hate that something like that has happened to her. From what I have seen, Tris is a really amazing girl, especially since she has the effect she does on Four. She must be really special for him to care so much about her.

I can't stand the thought of her being left in a place where she is only being abused. She doesn't deserve it, no one does. I'm going to make sure she gets out of there and gets the kind of life that she deserves. Both her and Four.

I hear the automatic doors open into the emergency waiting room and look up to see a brunette woman with a scar running down the entire side of her face. I expect her to keep walking or at least sit down in a chair, but she comes to stand right next to me. I look at her quizzically. Then she starts to speak. "Hi, I'm Johanna Reyes, Beatrice Prior's case worker. I understand that she has been admitted to this hospital by a Tori Wu? Is that you?" Zeke looks up and Four finally stops his pacing to stare at her, probably wondering how the hell we are going to explain this.

"Yes, I am Tori," I respond.

"I'm going to need to ask you and these boys a few questions about this incident."

"I won't be much help, but of course I will do my best to tell you anything I know,"I tell her politely.

She starts walking towards the hallway, so we follow her. She finally stops at a metal door and leads us into a room full of chairs and tells us to have a seat. She stays standing.

She addresses Zeke and Four. "I need you boys to tell me everything you know about what happened to Beatrice. Don't leave anything out, not even any tiny details that you may think are not important. I need to know everything."

Zeke goes first. He tells her almost exactly what he told Four and me at the tattoo parlor. The story is still just as horrifying as it was the first time. The entire time, she just shakes her head and writes in a small yellow and red notebook, looking unphased. I guess case workers get used to this kind of thing.

Then it is Four's turn. He tells Johanna the story he told us at the parlor, but when he is finished, he looked like he is contemplating something.

Johanna caught on to it immediately. "What is it? Remember, everything is important. This could help Beatrice immensely."

He seems hesitant, but ultimately decides to come out with the truth. "Well, this may not be helpful, but I guess it's worth a shot. On Tuesday, the day after she got to Max's foster home, she had to run a race against me. But she was wearing a hoodie, which isn't allowed in gym, so the coach made her take it off, which left her in only her sports bra,"he blushed as he said it, which was unusual for Four. I've never seen him so flustered.

"I don't think anyone but me noticed it, but I saw some bruises on her. There was a big, dark one on her rib cage and she had others scattered across her body. I had kind of just figured she had gotten them from before she came to the foster home. I didn't, and still don't know what kind of situation she came from. I don't know if it was that kind."

Johanna interrupts him. "Her parents died in a car crash along with her brother, Caleb. She was the only survivor."

**Four's** **pov**

"Her parents died in a car crash along with her brother, Caleb. She was the only survivor." Johanna rattles off as if she is reporting the weather.

I let this fresh wave of shock crash over me. I hadn't expected that. I had expected that maybe her parents could no longer care for her. That would have been easier for Tris to handle. Not them being dead.

What really gets me though is that she was the only survivor of her entire family, whom she must have loved greatly. What I look at as extreme luck that Tris survived and is still here today, she probably turns into guilt that she survived. That she was the one who lived. That she couldn't take one of their places. I can't imagine the guilt she must feel.

As much as I am ashamed to even think it, I am so grateful that it wasn't Tris that died in that crash. I know that sounds selfish and insensitive, but it's true. Now that I have Tris as a part of my life, I can't imagine her not one. At the very least, she is my friend. I have shown her the side of me that I have never shown anyone else. Ever. I am glad that she is the one who lived.

Johanna looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to finish, like I'm not having mental issues at the moment. When she realizes that I am done, she says, "Thank you Four. That may be very helpful in this investigation."

She turns toward all of us. "Anything else that any of you have noticed that may have been strange or out of the ordinary?"

Zeke is the one to remember something. I expect him to look at Johanna and tell her, but he looks at me instead. "Tell her about th lunch the other day. I don't know all of it, but I know that you probably do since you followed Tris."

The lunch! I totally forgot about Tris's major break down.

I turn to Johanna and start to replay the story. "The other day, Tris kind of had a break down at school. At the lunch table, she was sort of zoned out, not paying attention to anything around her. We were saying her name, but she wasn't responding. Christina finally managed to get her attention... by touching her on her back. Oh my gosh, Christina touched her back! That must have been what set her off."

"That helps right? That now we know that Tris's back was hurt on Wednesday? And possibly Tuesday since I know she had the bruises then. It must have happened Monday if the bruises were other on Tuesday."I tell Johanna.

She nods her head and scribbles vigorously in her notebook yet again. She looks at me to continue. "Anyways, we asked Tris if she was okay and she said that she was fine, which she obviously wasn't. Then she just got up and left. I knew she wasn't feeling right or that something was wrong, so I followed her. She went to the library and started reading, but she still looked really upset, so I got her attention."

"She looked at me, and I knew as soon as I saw her expression that she was hurting -emotionally. I didn't know what was wrong or what was going on and I barely knew her at all, but I wanted her to feel better. She tried to cover it up, but I had seen her face. So I told her that it was okay and that she could let herself feel around me. And that was all it took. She started sobbing -awful, body wracking sobs- right on me. We just hugged each other in the middle of the library in the middle of a period."

"She never told me what had been wrong, so I just didn't ask. I know that I absolutely hated it when people asked questions about me, so I just kept quiet. She finally stopped crying after like 20 minutes and she apologized for soaking my shirt and I told her that it was fine. And then we just went to the rest of the classes and she never brought it up after that."

Everyone is silent after I finish. Tori finally says something. "I was wondering what you guys were doing when you came into my class in the middle of the hour. I saw her red eyes so I didn't ask."

Johanna keeps nodding her head through the entire thing. "So what are you going to do to help Tris?" Zeke asks her.

"We are going to do the best we can to find out who did this to Tris. We will start the investigation and interview Tris as soon as she wakes up and is well enough to tell us what happened to her,"she replies, still unsympathetic.

I don't understand how she can shut off her emotions like that, like everything awful and horrific thing happening to someone else doesn't matter. I don't even care anymore. I just want her to leave and find out what happened to Tris. "What are you going to investigate?"I ask.

"We are going to search through the foster home first, since it seems like Tris spends a great amount of her time there. We'll see what kind of evidence we can get there to help build a case and then we are going to interview everyone living there and Tris's team mates to see if they noticed anything strange. Hopefully that will get us somewhere and help us build a solid case." We all nod our heads.

"Tori, please contact me the moment that Tris wakes up, not a second later,"she hands Tori a business card. "Thank you so much, you were all very helpful. We are going to go ahead and get the investigation started. I'm heading to the foster home right now to see what we can find."

"Will you tell us if you find anything?" I ask. "It depends on the degree of importance and the impact it may have on the case." I nod and she walks out of the waiting room, leaving us alone.

I get up and start pacing once again. And once I start, I immediately start panicking about Tris again. What if Tris doesn't wake up? What if she does, but she doesn't remember anything? What if she blames me? What if she won't tell us what happened to her? What if- Before I can worry too much more, an Asian looking doctor comes into the room holding a clipboard.

He comes to a stop right next to us. "Are you all with Beatrice Prior?"he asks. We nod in unison. "

It looks like Beatrice has been severely damaged, mostly on her upper back and shoulders. In all, we had to give her 57 stitches, most of them on the worst one that ruptured. She lost a lot of blood and will probably be dizzy for a few days. She is very lucky that you brought her here in time."

That sentence says it all. She is okay. She's going to be fine. We got her here in time. It's going to be hard for her, but she's okay. " It could have been even more serious. She is awake, but disoriented. She can take visitors one at a time."

And with that, he walks away.

"Four, you can go first. You obviously are the most distraught,"Zeke tells me. I don't argue, just head to Tris's room and hope for the best.

**Tris's** **pov**

I wake up disoriented.

Where am I? My walls of my bedroom are dark blue and covered with posters, quite a contrast from these stark white walls. The lights are too bright so I take a few minutes to let my eyes adjust. There is an insistent beeping to my left, but I can't pin point the sound and find the culprit.

And then it hits me. I must be in the hospital. It is the only logical explanation considering the white walls, blinding lights, and loud, continuous beeping.

I have a good guess about why I am here. I'm almost positive that a cut opened up in my sleep last night and most likely started bleeding. A lot. I probably passed out from the loss of blood. At least it was in my sleep and I was already in my bed and comfortable.

My back hurts. Not sharp,shooting pains. It is more like, dull, throbbing, aching pains. It's different from how it was before. A little better and a whole lot weirder. I can't pinpoint why it feels like this.

But how did I get here? Who brought me? Why would someone come into my room to find me unconscious anyways? Just as I think that last though, I hear footsteps coming down the hall and they are getting louder, coming towards where I am.

I almost turn around and pretend to be asleep, but my curiosity gets the better of me. I really want to know who it is. Plus it would be too hard to turn around with my back the way it is.

And right then, the door opens to reveal a concerned looking Four. When he sees that I am awake, his face breaks out it a huge smile. Like, I'm afraid his face is going to shatter from stretching so much.

"You're awake,"he say, still smiling. I've never seen him smile very much and definitely not like this.

"I guess so. What happened?" He looks taken aback. I don't think he expected me to not remember anything from after the party last night after I cleaned up.

"Do you remember anything at all from last night?" I nod slightly. "Tell me all you remember."

So I do. "I remember the entire party. And that dude that tried to grab me and you saving me. And us talking upstairs and running away from you because I didn't want to answer your question. I remember Zeke asking me to play a game and then I left after, umm... something happened."

He interrupts me. "I know about what happened between you and Zeke. He told Tori and I. We rushed to your house and found you in bed, so we were going to wake you up and confront you about the blood from the party that ended up on Zeke's hand, but you didn't wake up." He looks back at me, his eyes holding an emotion that I can't seem to decipher.

He continues. "We tried a couple more times, but it still didn't work, so I checked your pulse and it was barely even there. Your breathing was so shallow that I don't see how you were even getting any oxygen. And you were pale. So so pale, so I tore the covers off of you and that's when I saw all the blood. It soaked through your shirt and it was sticking to you. It was still oozing out so I had to find where it was coming from."

"Believe me Tris, tearing that shirt from your back was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was stuck inside all of your wounds. I knew that it didn't hurt since you weren't conscious, but it still felt like I was hurting you. After I pulled it away from your back, we saw the wounds and rushed you here. You never woke up, not once. You lost too much blood. I really thought you were going to die." He lets his head hang and doesn't say anything else.

I look at his face and then do a double take. Then another one. If I didn't know any better, I would say that he had tears in his eyes. We let the silence wash over us.

Then he speaks again. "Do you remember anything else?"

I nod. "I remember getting Christina's keys and Zeke trying to stop me from leaving but still going anyways. It gets a little fuzzy around the drive home. I remember taking a shower and throwing away Christina's dress. That's it. I pretty much remember the entire night." I pause.

"And I'm really sorry you had to see that. I never wanted anyone to see them. Thank you so much for saving me. I'm sure that I would be a lot worse if you guys hadn't brought me...speaking of a lot worse, why does my back feel so weird? What did they do?"

He seems hesitant, but eventually tells me. "Tris, they gave you 57 stitches. Some of them that weren't as bad, so they didn't need them, but some others were really deep. And don't ever apologize for something you can't control. I'm glad I saw them. I'm not saying I liked seeing them, but if I hadn't, I would have never known. You could have died."

I nod, but he isn't finished. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell me? I could have done something. You didn't have to go through that alone. You shouldn't have had to go through it at all. What even happened? Who did this to you?"

He keeps asking questions that I can't answer. Even if I did answer them, it wouldn't help. I still live with Peter. The only way I can change that is to go to a different foster home.

I don't want to do that. I can't leave Christina or track or my other friends. I have people here that actually care about me. I've never had that in a foster home before.

But most of all, I can't leave Four. Not now. Not ever. I can't get him involved in this. I can't drag him into my problems.

"No one." He looks at me mournfully.

"Please tell me. I can help you. You just have to want to be helped."

And suddenly, all at once, I am furious. All the anger I have ever felt comes crashing into me. I want to break everything, destroy everything in my path. That might be a problem since I can't get up with my back the way it is.

So I yell at Four instead. "Do you think I like this? Do you think I like to be in pain for every waking moment? I can barely take a fucking step without grinding my teeth and wincing. I hate that he does this to me and I sincerely hope that he goes to Hell, where he belongs." I pause and take a breathe, but I am not done.

"It isn't my fault. I never did anything for him to hate me! He's just a fucking bastard that thinks he is superior to me and that I deserve to be beat like I'm nothing. I can't get away from him. I want this to stop, don't you ever think that I don't. I just don't fucking know how to make it stop." **(A/N.** **Get** **it?** **Make** **it** **Stop?** **Haha**:) **It ****is the name of this fanfic!)**

I didn't realize that I was screaming at him at the top of my lungs. I have tears running rampant down my face but I don't feel them.

He looks at me, shocked. "You said he and him. Some guy did this to you. Why can't you get away from him? You could have just stayed at the house."

What he doesn't know is that the person doing this to me lives with us. "That wouldn't have done anything. Staying at home wouldn't have protected me."

"And why the hell not?" He sounds almost as angry as me.

I still have a little anger left over and I throw the rest of it into this. "Because he's there too! I can't get away from him. He's always fucking there!"

I can't tell if it was Four or me that gasped. That wasn't supposed to come out. I didn't mean to practically hand him the name on a shiny platter and say, 'Here you go! It was Peter!'

"He lives with us?" Four is still wrapping his head around what I accidentally said and what it implies. "That bastard! Peter did this, didn't he?" I stay silent. There is nothing I can do anymore. It is out of my hands.

"I've always known he was hostile towards you by the way he looked at you, but I had no idea he would act on it. I going to kill him. God dammit! How did I not know about this?" He looks back at me.

He looks like he wants to punch something. "You should have come to me. I would have protected you. You can trust me with anything, especially something like that. That fucking bastard!" He is yelling almost as loud as I was a minute ago and his face is blood red.

I've never thought of Four as scary, but right now I can see why a lot of other people do.

"I'm sorry,"I tell him.

"I want you to tell me everything he has done to you. And Tori too. I'm going to go get her. You can trust her too."

He leaves the room and quickly comes back with Tori in hold. She immediately comes over to me and kisses my forehead like a mom. It makes me think of my mom. A fresh pang of sadness go through me at the thought that she isn't with me right now. Tori kind of reminds me of her. She would be a great mom.

"Sweetheart, I need you to tell us everything. Don't leave anything out. We are going to help you."

I nod. "Can you help me sit up?" I feel weird laying down and I can't get up by myself.

Four rushes to my other side and puts one hand around my shoulders where the wounds are scarce and the other arm under my legs. He lifts me carefully, like a porcelain doll. Like I might break at any moment. I get the feeling that I might.

It hurts and my back is intensely throbbing afterward. But at least I'm sitting up. I take a deep breath and begin the painful story that I never wanted to relive. "The night I got here, Peter came into my room and started punching me. Everywhere he could reach. He didn't have a reason to. I had only seen him once and I didn't even say a word to him. I had bruises all over me, mostly on my ribs."

Recognition flashes in Four's eyes. "I saw them when you took off your hoodie to run in gym. I should have known. At the very least, I should have said something to you about them."

"It doesn't matter anymore."

"Anything involving you always matters to me. Keep going with your story please."

I don't have time to process that and think about how sweet it was and what it might mean. I keep telling my story. "The next morning, he grabbed my wrist and left a bruise there. I really thought he was going to break my bone. On Wednesday after school, he came into my room and took off his belt."

My voice breaks and Four speaks up, his face full of fire. "What do you mean he took his belt off? What did he do? Did he... touch you?"

"Oh, God no. I'm sorry, I didn't think about how that sounded. He told me to take my shirt off and turn around, so I did.

"You aren't making it sound any better."

I ignore the comment and continue. "I couldn't really argue with him. I didn't know what he was capable of. I still don't."

I keep going, just ready to be done. "Anyways, he took his belt and started whipping my back with it. He told me not to make a sound. I tried, I really did, but I couldn't stay silent. It was so excruciating. I accidentally made a noise and he only made it worse. I don't know how long it went on for more how many times he whipped me. I was on the ground, in my own blood, but he didn't stop. After he was finally done, he just told me to clean up the mess I made and left."

"The next day, Christina touched my back and it hurt so bad. I winced and I didn't want anyone to ask any questions, so I left and went to the library. That's when I then proceeded to cry like a baby in Four's arms." I'm still embarrassed about it.

"And then at Zeke's party, some guy tried to grab me and he dug his nails into my back. I opened up one of the cuts. One of the worst ones. Four saved me and we talked upstairs. Zeke to get me to play a game and touched my back and got blood all over his hand. It was seeping out of my dress. I left after that even though Zeke tried stop me and help me. I couldn't tell anyone about it. I couldn't suck anyone into it. I don't really remember the drive home last night. I just remember taking a shower, throwing away Christina's dress, and then going to sleep. I woke up here."

Tori and Four are now both openly on the verge if tears. "I want to thank you guys. It could have been a lot worse if you hadn't brought me to the hospital. I could have died, but you saved me. I owe you my life." I need them to know how much I appreciate what they did for me.

"We're just happy you're alive. We were so scared," Tori says. I try smiling at her, but I comes out as more of a grimace. "Oh! I need to call Johanna and tell her that you woke up." She walks out of the room with her phone and a business card in hand.

Four looks at me. "Never think that you can't come to me. No matter what it is. I care about you and I will always do everything that I can to help. You shouldn't have had to handle that alone. Hell, you shouldn't have had to handle that at all. Please, just let me in."

"I couldn't get you involved. Something could have happened to you; I don't know what Peter is capable of. I just didn't want anyone to get hurt. Especially not you."

I didn't realize how that sounded until I said it. I didn't mean to actually say what I was thinking, but that doesn't make it any less true. I didn't want to put him in danger. I can't bear to think of Four hurt. He must realize that I mean it to because he grabs my hand.

I try not to get too excited. He was probably just worried about me. He doesn't really like me. He couldn't like me. Even though I know he is probably only trying to make me feel better, I grip his hand with all my strength, afraid of what will happen when I let go. We will lose this moment. I just want to live in it forever.

We don't speak, just let the feelings wash over us.

Tori comes back a few minutes later with a blank expression. She face me and starts talking. "That was Johanna Reyes, your case worker. She went to you house to investigate. I didn't tell her anything that you said, but she wants to interview you. They found something at your house."

"What was it?"I ask.

"They found a bloody belt in the back of Peter's closet. They are going to try to match your blood and his fingerprints for evidence. She said it wouldn't be too hard to match it to you. It has your blood and skin all over it. It's going to be okay. He's going to go to jail and you will never have to see his face again."

"That bastard. He kept it like a trophy," Four mumbles to himself. I look at Four and he squeezes my hand harder.

"It's all going to be okay now,Tris." I squeeze back.

"I know." I really hope we are right.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you all for reading this fanfic. It means a lot to me that people actually read it.<strong>

**Thanks so to the reviewer who told me that I could be an actual writer. It's my dream job, even though I am only fourteen. It made me feel like my dream isn't pointless.**

**Thank you so much melC92 for everything. A lot of the ideas in this chapter and in the next one are yours. I couldn't have written this without you.**

**This chapter is over five thousand words so WOOHOO! I love long chapters:)**

**This is really important to me and I hope it is to y'all to. **

**I would also like to thank the reviewers who told me that they cried on the last chapter. That was the best thing to ever hear.**

**Keep reading this story! Sorry it took so long to update, I'm busy!**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Love, Ty:) **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter** **Twelve**

**Tori's** **pov**

After I get off the phone and am done talking to Tris, I go to the waiting room to think and let Four have some alone time with Tris. They obviously need it.

Now that I know that Peter is the one who caused Tris all of that pain, who abused her, who is the reason she almost bled to death in her own bed, I refuse to let Tris go back there, to live there anymore.

There is only one thing to do. I call Johanna. I dial her number from the business card she gave me. She picks up on the second ring.

"Johanna Reyes. How can I help you,"she asks in a monotone voice. She has obviously done this countless times before. Maybe if she is going be a case worker and deal with sad cases, she should show at least a little bit of emotion.

I don't sugarcoat what I am about to ask her; there is no point. I know what I need to do and I will not rest until I make it happen. "Hello. This is Tori Wu. I want to adopt Beatrice Prior."

"Oh! Well, you aren't one for subtleties, are you?"

"She needs to be out of that house. Even if Peter is arrested, she will always be reminded of what happened there. She can't get over something like this; it's practically mentally impossible. Me adopting her will help her move away from all of that and eventually begin to get better. She needs to get away for her to be able to heal."

"That actually sounds very reasonable. I'll see what I can do. I think that Beatrice will thrive in your care. It is blatantly obvious that you care about her. Otherwise, you wouldn't have saved her by bringing her to the hospital and asking to adopt her."

"Thank you so much. I also need another thing,"I say, hoping she will let me have my way.

"Yes?"

"I would also like to adopt Four Eaton."

"Oh, you mean Tobias? The one at hospital with you?"

It is so weird to hear his real name. I've never heard it before. He did such a great job at keeping it hidden from everyone. I never asked what his real name was before because I always figured that he was trying to keep his past separate from his present, which absolutely makes sense considering his hell of a life from before.

"Yes. He has been through similar experiences as Beatrice and I feel that he could help her improve more rapidly." I'm trying to sound smarter than I actually am so that she will think I am professional. I think I'm doing a pretty damn good job, if I do say so myself.

"I'll also look into that and see what I can do. You are aware that adopting two teenagers at one time can be immensely hectic. It may cost quite a bit of money,"she sounds bored.

"That won't be a problem,"I quickly assure her. I have plenty of emergency money in savings. I'm pretty sure that this counts as an emergency.

"Have you gotten Peter in custody yet? Is he going to jail for abuse?" I just want that bastard to be locked up for what he did to Tris.

"Um... I can't say that we have. We actually haven't caught Peter yet. We are in the process of a full blown search party, but someone seems to have tipped him off that Beatrice was in the hospital and he must have gotten scared. No one has seen him since he went to sleep last night."

Oh shit. Peter is missing. Tris and Four are going to go ballistic. I don't want to tell them, but at the same time, I want them to be fully aware of the situation that we are facing. I need them to be safe. And they will be, with me.

"Then I need Tris and Four now. As soon as she is well enough to leave the hospital. I have to protect her. If Peter comes back for her, the first place he is going to look is at Max's. She can't stay there. I can keep them at my house while the adoptions are being legalized."

I just want for them to be safe and not have to worry anymore. They should just be normal teenagers for once. Instead, their childhoods were torn away from them when Tris's parents and brother died and when Four's father decided to abuse his only son.

"That sounds like a great plan. I will immediately permit you to have temporary custody of Beatrice and Tobias. Just until the adoption is final."

I'm so glad that I can protect them. They will be safe with me. "Thank you so much Johanna. Please update me with anything involving the case and make sure I know anything about Peter."

"I will be sure to do that,"and with that, she hangs up.

Everything is going to be okay. They are going to be okay. Tris is going to be safe.

I go into Tris's hospital room to see Four and Tris still holding hands like before, but they aren't speaking. They are just starting at each other. They totally like each other. Maybe they just don't know it yet.

I knock on the door to make my presence known. They immediately break from their trance and look at me, but I note that they still don't break the hold on each other's hand. They are using each other as life lines right now. They need each other. I know I am making th right choice of adopting them both.

I need to tell them the news. Hopefully, they will be just as excited as I am when I tell them about it. And hopefully the news of Peter is forgotten when I tell them about the adoption.

"Hey you guys. I have some news. Do you want the bad news or good news first?"

Tris and Four look at me hesitantly, afraid of what I might say.

Four answers first. "Bad news." Tris nods her head in agreement.

I really don't want to tell either one of them this, but they need to know. They need to be aware and prepared for what they are up against. I have to tell them now, or I will lose my courage.

"They never found Peter. They are searching for him, but they think that someone must have tipped him off that they were coming to arrest him. He could be anywhere."

Tris's eyes are full of trepidation. They are instantly glassy from the tears she is holding back in them. She won't let herself cry. I've always known she was strong, but in this very moment, she is the strongest person I've ever seen. I would be screaming by now, but all she is doing is forcing herself not to cry. I know how much strength that must take.

Four's expression is mixed. He looks scared, concerned, and angry all at the same time. I don't blame him. We just saved Tris's life and now it is in danger again. I know that he is thinking of what Peter would do to Tris if he came back and found her.

I look to their intertwined hands and see that they are both white. I'm not sure who is squeezing the hardest, but I can tell the tightness is a collaboration. They are both terrified.

"I don't want to even think about that right now. What's the good news? I need some good right about now,"Tris says quickly, spitting out her words before she chokes back a sob.

"The good news is that I am going to keep you safe. Both of you."

Four looks confused. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"Well, I just got off the phone with Johanna and she helped me out a bit. And by a bit, I mean a lot." I pause for dramatic affect. "I am going to adopt you both. It's all set. As soon as Tris is released from the hospital, we will go to Max's to get your things and then move into my house. It isn't as big, but we will all fit comfortably. Just the four of us."

**Tris's** **pov**

"Well, I just got off the phone with Johanna and she helped me out a bit. And by a bit, I mean a lot. I am going to adopt both of you. It's all set. As soon as Tris is released from the hospital, we will go to Max's to get your things and then move into my house. It isn't as big, but we will all fit comfortably. Just the four of us.

I can't believe what I just heard. I completely put everything I just heard about Peter and throw it into the back of my mind. I am completely astounded by Tori's announcement. She's going to adopt us. Both of us?

"Like, your going to be our adoptive mother? We are going to live with you?" I ask. I still can't wrap my head around the concept.

"That's right sweetheart,"she says in reply.

I smiles and then finally break down crying. I didn't cry when she told me that Peter was on the loose, that he could be anywhere, doing anything. But I cry now.

This is too much. I never expected to be a part of a home again. To have someone actually take care of me, to act like a mom towards me. I thought I had lost that forever in that damn car accident. But here it is- a caring family- being handed to me at the time when I need it the most. This is worth so much to me.

Four takes a hold of me and strongly holds brings me to him, still somehow avoiding my injuries. I have no idea how he does that.

He always strangely knows exactly where to put his arms around me. Exactly where the wounds are the worst and where it is okay to touch. I am so thankful for that now. I need someone to hold me.

"Shh. It's okay. We're going to be okay. You're finally going to be safe,"he says and kisses my forehead. I don't think too much about it. I honestly don't have the energy.

Tori and Four let me cry myself out. It must be at least thirty minutes later when my tears are dried up and I can finally form a coherrent sentence.

Four hasn't stopped holding me and whispering soothing things into my ear.

I look to Tori. "Thank you. So much. I can't even express how grateful I am."

She smiles. "It's my pleasure. The both of you are going to be great additions to the family."

Four asks the question I had been wanting to ask first. "What family? I thought it was just you. Why haven't I ever met him?"

"You have, you just didn't know that he was my husband. I live with my husband Bud. The one who did Zeke's tattoo at the shop this morning."

I look at him, confused. "You got a tattoo? This morning? And saved my life? You're like Superman."

He lets out a laugh at that. "Man, I wish I was as cool as Superman."

I laugh and then turn semi-serious. "Can I see it?"

"My tattoo?"

"Yeah. I want to see it," I affirm him.

He stands up right beside me, sadly letting go of me. I can't help but feel a sudden coldness with his arms no longer around me, and I find myself really missing the warmth that he brings to me. He grabs the bottom of his shirt and pulls it up to reveal a large tattoo of flames on his entire side.

It's beautiful. Especially on his toned body. Now that his shirt is pulled up, I can see that he has rock hard abs, but not the gross kind that make you want to give the person food and strap them down to a chair to make them stop exercising.

He has a dark trail of hair leading downwards... I turn red at even thinking about it. He's beautiful, even better than the tattoo. But the tattoo is pretty amazing too.

"I want one," I very seriously tell Tori. And I am not lying; I really do want a tattoo.

She smiles widely."Come by my shop an I'll give you one, FOR FREE! You know, since I'm the one that's going to start having to give you money anyways."

I just smile. I couldn't think of a better person to adopt Four and I. I am honored that she would even want to.

I look back to Four. "Can I touch it?" I ask hesitantly.

"I just got it this morning, so it's fresh. But of course you can touch it."

I gently bring my hand up to his side and slowly run my hand down the length of it. My hand is tingling everywhere it is making contact with his skin. It's weird, but I find myself thinking that I could get used to it. His skin flutters beneath my touch, and he sucks in a breath quickly.

I immediately take my hand away, afraid that I might have hurt him. If the tattoo is still fresh, then it might still be tender. I wouldn't know;I've never had a tattoo before. Hopefully that will change in the near future. "Did I hurt you? I'm sorry,"I quickly apologize.

"It didn't hurt." He smiles, but there is something else behind his eyes. I can't quite figure it out, no matter how hard I try.

I touch my hand back to his side, slowly tracing the outline of the flames. They fit him well, like they were meant to be there somehow. His breathing is picking up with each passing second of me touching him, but I can't tell why. I really that wish I knew.

After I've traced every part of the tattoo and can't find an excuse to touch it any more, I take my hand down. It is still tingling. Sadly, Four puts his shirt back over his body and once again takes the seat next to me.

I notice that he grabs my hand again and the tingles are back, but I try not to think of how he makes me feel. I know that he is trying to comfort me and that he doesn't like me.

He would never want someone so damaged, and I'm sure that he isn't even remotely attracted to me. He's virtually perfect. When I look at him, it's like I'm practically staring at a Greek god.

I'm sure that when he looks at me, he mistakes me for a short piece spaghetti. I'm too small; too skinny, too short. My hair is an indistinct color that I'm sure at least a fourth of the blondes on this planet have. The only things remarkable about me are my my eyes. Their color is gray and blue mixed together, but they look like they weren't fully mixed together, so they look like a marble pattern.

I stop dwelling on my lack of good looks and ask Tori, "So when can I get out of here?"

"Whenever you feel strong enough to leave. Johanna was going to interrogate you here, but I told her to wait until you got a little better."

"Thank you. And I'm definitely ready to leave. I hate this place."

"I'll go get a nurse and see how soon we can get you released," she says and walks out of the room before I can even tell her thank you.

Her leaving leaves Four and me alone. He looks at me and asks, "How are you feeling? And don't be noble about it, I want the real answer. Don't hold back."

"I could be better," I joke weakly. He doesn't laugh; he wants the real answer. "My back hurts when I move, but it isn't like it hasn't been like that for the past few days. I'm better now that I know Tori is adopting us." He squeezes my hand.

"You shouldn't have had to deal with that. I'm so sorry that you didn't feel like you could come to me. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you even when you didn't ask. I should have known something was wrong with you from the day I saw the bruises."

"You couldn't have known. Don't you dare blame yourself for this, you had nothing to do with it." I reply strongly "And I did turn to you, you just didn't know. In the library, that helped me so much. I needed to let some steam off."

"You shouldn't ever have to go through pain."

"I'm used to it." I whisper to myself, thinking of Eric once again. Of what he did to me, over and over and over again.

"What do you mean? How are you used to it?"

I hadn't meant for him to hear that. I was saying it to myself. He is asking questions that I can't answer, not yet. "Nevermind that."

"No, not never mind that. What do you mean?" He's going to go crazy not knowing. And for a second, I think about telling him, right here, right now.

But I quickly decide against it. "I can't tell you. Just leave it alone."

"You should never be used to being hurt. You don't deserve that. No one does, but especially not you. You deserve so much better than that. You deserve to be loved and cherished every second of everyday." He says it so strongly that I find myself actually believing it. I don't think about how he said it like he was going to make sure that it happened someday.

"Thank you. No one has ever said that to me. You deserve a lot better too."

He shakes his head but doesn't say anything else about what I said.

Tori walks back in a few minutes later. "Are you ready? I sent Zeke home to pick you up some clothes earlier. He said that he thought you would like these." She hands me some clothes but I don't look at them yet. I'm trying to hold off on looking at what Zeke must have picked up for me and how stutty it probably is.

"Can you help me up?"I ask Four.

He doesn't say anything, just brings one arm to my lower back and one under my knees. He pick me up and puts me back on the ground gently, but he doesn't let go of me yet.

I start trying to walk to the bathroom that is attached to my room, but my knees buckle under me. I almost fall flat on my face, but Four is still holding on to me strongly. I have full confidence that I'm not going to fall, not with him making sure that I don't.

My legs finally start working with me and start moving. I walk towards the bathroom with Four helping me the entire way. When I get there, I realize that I have a completely different problem.

I look at Tori, who is still watching us, smiling. "Can you help me get dressed? I'm afraid to rip out my stitches out or something,"I ask her timidly. I feel so helpless and incompetent, but that doesn't mean I don't need her help.

"Of course. They're covered, but you still have to be careful about stretching them and them popping apart." I must make a face because she laughs and reassures me that it would be pretty difficult to make that happen.

We both walk into the bathroom and she locks the door behind herself.

I start to take my hospital gown off, but it hurts too much. It feels like my back is pulling itself apart. I look at Tori hopelessly, but she only smiles and unties the back. Well, now I feel stupid.

I quickly pull it of my shoulders and look at what Zeke picked out for me. What I expected to be slutty isn't slutty at all. He got me the pair of skinny jeans that I wear almost all the time. He must have seen how worn out they are and known that they are my favorite pair.

I quickly put them on, which is pretty easy since I didn't have to stretch, and look at the shirt he picked out. And once again, I am pleasantly surprised. He got me a big blue t-shirt. I wear it to sleep all the time. It is literally the most comfortable thing I own. It's so soft that I feel like I am sleeping in marshmallows.

I'm going to have to start getting Zeke to pick out my clothes all of the time.

Tori takes the shirt and gently brings it over my head. I put my arms through and am instantly enveloped in marshmallow. As much as I feel helpless with Tori putting my clothes on me, I appreciate it so much.

"Thank you so much. For everything."

She smiles and I walk out the door. I immediately run into Four. I wasn't looking at where I was going and it seems that he was waiting right outside of the door the entire time.

I lose my balance but he grabs me before I can fall and stands me back up again.

"Careful, Tris."

I smile. "Are you both ready? We have to go by Max's to get you things. Right now is the safest time to go since Peter wouldn't be there already. We need to go now, before it's too late and dangerous,"Tori says.

I am technically required to leave the hospital in a wheel chair, so as soon as the nurse catches sight of us trying to leave without one, she quickly rolls one down the hallway and parks it in front of me.

I try arguing, but quickly see that it is useless. I carefully sit in it and let Four roll me down the hallways and out of the hospital. As soon as we are out the door, I push myself out of the wheel chair.

Four grabs my hand once again and we follow Tori to the car. She parked it while they were in the waiting room; she couldn't just leave it at the entrance.

As we are getting into the car, I expect Four to sit in the front on the passenger side, but he comes to sit right next to me after helping me in.

Usually, I would feel self conscious about them helping me so much and practically doing everything for me, but I don't know what I would have done without them.I can't act like I am perfectly fine, like I have been doing for days, because we all know that I am not okay. It is going to take a long while for me to ever be okay again. If it is even possible.

Tori speeds off to Max's and we get there in half the time it would usually take. Four didn't let go of my hand the entire ride. I still can't make sense of it, and I probably won't ever be able to.

I go upstairs as silently as I can so that I don't bring myself attention. I want to get in and out of here without having to see it talk to anyone. Especially Christina. I don't think I can handle telling her what Peter did to me. Not yet.

I shut the door to my room and find some overnight bags to put all of my clothes in. I have had them for forever; I never thought they would come in handy like this.

I stuff as much as I can in the bags: clothes, shoes, and pictures of my family. I grab my little makeup bag, my toothbrush, and the hair brush that I brought here with me and quickly make my way back to Four's car. Tori and Four are already waiting on me in the car.

I gently sit down in the back and Four instantly grabs hand gently and rubs his thumb over the top soothingly. I still can't manage to figure out why he is doing that. Not that I don't like it, it makes me feel wanted. But it doesn't make sense for someone who doesn't want me to hold my hand and be there for me.

Tori drives for about ten minutes, taking winding roads and sharp turn and finally pulls up at a cute brick house. It is nothing like Max's. It is probably half the size, but that is still pretty big.

The yard is amazing, with trees everywhere. Just how I like it. There is a garden surrounding the entire house. This is such a change from Max's, and I absolutely love it.

Tori looks at us smiling. "Were here."

"It's beautiful," I tell her, still in awe of the yard.

"Thank you. Let's go inside, and I can show you both to your rooms. Well, mostly Tris." I can hear the excitement in her voice. I would ask why Four doesn't need to be shown to his room, but I don't want to invade anyone's privacy.

I'm so thankful that it is Tori adopting us. I can tell that she really wants us here, unlike Max who barely said two words to me the entire time that I was living there. She acts like such a mom anyways. I kind of thought she already had kids since she was always so motherly towards Four and I. I guess it is just natural for her.

She walks us into the house. The door opens up to the living room, which is absolutely beautiful. It isn't anything extra fancy, but the atmosphere of it just makes you feel like you are right at home. And I have the feeling that I really am.

The couches are fabric and have pretty designs on them. The walls are a light blue that make you think that you are looking at the sky. It's actually really relaxing. There is a flat screen tv, but it isn't so big that it takes up half the wall.

She shows us the kitchen, which is fully updated, two bathrooms, and her bedroom, which was the most gorgeous room I have ever seen in my life. This entire place is perfect.

Four is walking with is during the tour, but I get the feeling that he already knows his way around.

Four leads himself to a room that must be his bedroom. I find myself wondering how he knows where it is.

It's pretty large and has blue walls that are the color of his eyes. I bet that is why Tori picked this room for him. There is a queen size bed in it with a black comforter. She must have modeled this room after him or something.

"You haven't changed a thing in here since last time, Tor," he says, smiling at her.

He must see the confusion on my face. "I stay here sometimes. Just when I need to get away from it all. Speaking of which," he addresses Tori. "How have I been here so many times and never seen Bud here? Where is he anyways?"

"He works two jobs, so he usually gets in really late. He leaves early in the morning to get the shop ready. You come and go without seeing him. I just never thought to tell you that Bud was my husband and lives here with me."

He shrugs in response and Tori brings me to my room. It is slightly larger than Four's and is totally different. The walls are white and so is the bed.

There is a bookshelf full of books, but there are still a couple is shelves empty. I'm assuming that they are for pictures and other things.

There is a freaking awesome papasan chair in the corner, which is also white. I'm so confused. Why is everything white? And why do I like it so much?

I look at Tori and she explains. "I got Bud to do this while you were in the hospital. I figured you would want a fresh start."

I get tears in my eyes. I am overly emotional, but I can't believe that she did all this just for me.

"I love it. Thank you so much." I go and give her like a five minute hug and she returns it with equal enthusiasm, still avoiding my injuries.

"Anytime sweetheart."

I wipe the tears out of my eyes and step into my room. It's beautiful. The bed comforter is textured, so it adds extra to the room. The bookshelf is beautifully built. The closet is giant, way to big for the little amount of things that I have to put in there.

I set down the things on the floor beside my bed. Tori and Four shut the door and walk away, letting me have some privacy. I would unpack, but I'm just too tired. I didn't get any rest besides the medically induced kind at the hospital, and that didn't help at all.

I lay on my bed and pull the blanket that was on the foot of the bed over my body. I quickly fall into a deep sleep, this time with no nightmares.

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><p>I wake up disoriented. I look around and it finally clicks in my head that this is Tori's house. And my house now, I guess. It's dark outside, so I guess I slept for a while. I feel so well rested.<p>

Just as I am about to get up, I hear a gentle knock on the door.

"Come in,"I tell whoever it is.

Tori pokes her head in the room, still smiling. She hasn't stopped smiling since we got here. I like it.

"Four and I are going to go pick up some food. Do you want us to pick you up some, or do you to come with us?"

"I'm not very hungry. I'm just stay here, maybe unpack my bags,"I respond.

"Are you sure? You need to eat something. You probably need to get some of your strength back," she tells me worriedly.

"I'm sure. Thank you though," I say, smiling as largely as her.

"Okay... Well, we are going to be back in maybe twenty minutes, Maybe less. I'll lock the door on our way out."

"I'll be safe, don't worry."

She leaves my room with yet another smile. A few minutes later, I here the front door close and the lock click. I better get to work.

I grab my bags and go to get some hangers out of the closet. Just as I am heading back to where my clothes are on my bed, I hear the door creek open.

I don't think anything of it, but a few moments later, it happens again. And again a little while after that. On the fourth time, I see a boot.

"Who are you?" I scream at them.

And in walks my worst nightmare. Someone I never wanted to see again unless it was in the obituaries.

A very dangerous looking Peter.

"Hello, Tris. It's so nice to see you again. It was so sweet of you to sic the police on me. Maybe I should make you pay."

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><p><strong>Hey guys! Sorry this chapter isn't as good or long as the rest, I was super busy and didn't have much write it.<strong>

** I am also immensely sorry that it took me so long update. Whenever I tried to load this chapter, it just sent me to that stupid email page.**

**I'll take my time writing this next chapter. Hopefully I will have another chapter up by the end of the week.**

**Thank you for all of your reviews. They mean so much to me.**

**Another special thank you to melC92 for ideas and for calming me down. I hadn't even started writing this chapter and was going into full freak out mode. You saved me from a major breakdown.**

**Continue reading this story FOREVER!**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, guys. This chapter contains some stuff that is a little more mature than what I have been posting, but in my opinion, it doesn't deserve to be rated M. I didn't use gross language or describe anything, but be aware of what you adding if you don't want to read anything like that. But I swear, this chapter doesn't even come close to needing to be rated anything besides T.**

**I'll explain at the bottom why I haven't updated in a really long time, which I am extremely sorry about. But I had a good reason.**

**Enjoy this chapter, guys!**

**Ty:)**

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><p><strong>Chapter<strong> **Thirteen**

**Tris's** **pov**

"Hello, Tris. It's nice to see you again. It was so nice of you to sic the police on me. Maybe I should make you pay."

Oh shit.

As he starts inching his way closer to me, I feel around behind me, where I had just dumped out my bags, for a weapon. I don't know what Peter is planning, but I am sure that I will need something to protect myself with.

My hand is frantically moving behind me, searching, but all I can come up with is a small picture frame that I brought with me. It has a photo of me with my parentsand Caleb. It is the last picture we ever took together.

I'm sure that they wouldn't mind me using it for this purpose, though. With my hand still behind my back and hidden from Peter's view, I blindly remove the glass part of the picture frame. This is all I have, so it will have to do.

Hopefully I won't even have to use it and I can just run away to a neighbor's house or something. Except the closest house to us is almost a mile away. Usually that wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not in the best running shape right now, with my back the way it is. I need to think of something, fast. I can't let him hurt me anymore.

"What do you want?"I say, my voice barely above a whisper but sounding surprisingly stronger that what I had expected.

"I've always wanted one thing. For you to be dead. I will make it happen, no matter what. I would have let you off easy before you sent a search party for me, but now I might just have to take something from you for myself. Then, don't worry; I will give you the most painful death imaginable."He is still slowly lurking towards me with a menacing look on his face.

My breathing noticeably picks up at his words. I have never known what he wanted or what he was trying to accomplish by hurting me, and I was always too afraid to ask him. It isn't like Peter and I have a lot of heart to heart conversations.

The part that really sticks out to me, I mean besides the killing me painfully part, is that he wants to take something from me before he ends my life. I have a feeling that I know what he means, but I am hoping that I am wrong. I am silently praying that I am wrong.

I discretely brace myself to run, but he instantly picks up on it.

"Don't even think about running. Even if you did, I would catch you and then make your death even worse than it already will be. I might even add more foreplay. Don't try to get away from me, you little bitch. It isn't worth the risk. Then again, I don't mind putting you in more pain, so do what you want. Whatever you do wrong results in my pleasure." And this sufficiently gives me adequate reason to carefully drop the picture frame. Somehow, he doesn't notice, or he doesn't care. I can't risk him hurting me more for having a weapon.

He is only reinforcing what I had thought. His pleasure? That can almost only mean one thing. I still hope against everything that I am completely wrong. But I have the feeling that I am not. And it scares the hell out of me.

"I never did anything to you. Don't do this. You don't have to do this,"I plead.

"Oh, I know that I don't have to do it. I want to. And I always get what I want." He completely ignores the part about me being completely innocent of ever found anything bad to him. He obviously has bad ears or doesn't give a shit.

He starts shuffling towards me again, but before he gets close enough that he can hurt me, I run as fast as humanly possible around Peter while ducking so that he can't grab me my head or neck. I am running for my life, but obviously I am not running as fast as humanly possible because I hear Peter's loud and heavy footsteps catching up to me.

My back is slowing me down too much. Damn Peter. It is strange how what he did to hurt me before is still working against me while working to his benefit.

By the time I make it to the door leading to the front lawn, he has almost caught up to me. I swing the door open as quickly as I can and take a few steps onto the wet grass. That is when he gets a hold of me.

His hand grabs my neck and wraps firmly around it, effectively cutting off my air supply. He is gripping so tightly that I know if I don't do something about it, I am sure to die. Even if I don't, the bruises won't go away for a really long time, and bruises on my neck would probably be difficult to explain. But so will everything else. This is just another injury on my long list.

My hands immediately come up to claw his hands away from my neck, but his grip only tightens further.

So I do what any normal sixteen year old girl would do. I pinch his arm as hard as I can. I grab the amount of skin and fat that I know to be the most painful and clamp down tightly. I even dig my fingernails into his skin to add to the pain. I know for a fact that this will at least draw blood.

Couldn't have taken two seconds, but with my breath nonexistent from his death grip, it feels like an eternity. He releases a high pitched groan and jerks his arm away from my grasp. That gives me just enough time to run away from him. Just as I am reaching the middle of the lawn when all of the sudden, I am tackled to the cold, hard ground by Peter's immense body mass. He should probably lose some weight before tackling small girls to the ground. I'm pretty sure that he wants to keep me alive, at least for a little while, so maybe he should be a little more careful.

I let out a short scream but he almost instantly cuts it off by forcefully slamming his hand around my mouth to prevent further noises from escaping me. This put his hand in the perfect position for my teeth to clamp down on it with intense force. And I do exactly that.

He lets out a noise between a moan and a girly scream, which would bring me great pleasure if I weren't in this posotion . I immediately taste blood, but I don't stop biting down until he jerks his hand away and slaps pet in the face with the back side of his hand, so hard that my head literally turns sideways. He then positions his hands behind my back, right where he knows the wounds are.

"Stop fucking fighting!"he yells at me. "What's gonna happen is gonna happen regardless of whether you try to get away or not. This is just helping me judge how bad to make it on you."

I can feel his grip tightening on my back. I know that the fresh stitches I just got are going to rip out and that it is going to be excruciatingly painful. "NO!"I beg. All I get in reply from him is an evil smile and a slight nod. I brace myself for the pain, but nothing could have prepared me for how extreme it actually is. Oh shit. I've been thinking that a lot tonight.

All at once, his fingers push forwards, definitely ripping though the stitches that he was the reason for in the first place. I scream like I never have before. I'm sure that if this were a movie, this would be the scene that the played the scream while showing the town and the United States and then the Earth. Those scenes never made sense to me until now.

I mean, seriously. Don't go to for the back! I just got it stitched up from someone doing the exact same thing. He is the reason I had to get them in the first place! Show a little compassion! But then again, this is Peter. He is seemingly incapable of any feelings other than hatred.

I know that my back is surely bleeding all over the place. It won't stop until I get help. Something needs to happen before I die of blood loss. I need to do something.

I don't listen to a word he says. I know that what he is going to do to me if I don't get away will be horrific, so I might as well do everything in my power to not let it happen.

And with that thought, I swing my fist as painfully as I can muster straight into his cheekbone. I hear a satisfying crunch, but it doesn't seem to faze him one bit. Fast as lightning, he repositions his knees to hold both of my arms firmly to the wet ground, leaving me completely and utterly helpless. I can't make ny movements except for microscopic wiggles.

I watch as he lifts one of his knees and brings it to my face. It hits on the side of my forehead and black spots cloud my vision. And then it happens.

I see Peter bring his hand to his back and reach under his shirt to the waistband of his jeans. And he pulls out a pistol. I only ever saw the one that my mother kept hidden in her closet for protection. It was supposedly self-indulgent to even think about protecting yourself, but she once told me mine and Caleb's safety were much more important to her than virtues. I'm positive that my expression is one of pure terror.

"I was hoping that it wouldn't have to come to this, Tris. Why can't you just be a good little girl and cooperate with me? I just needed one thing and then I would end it right here. All of your misery and pain, gone,"he tells me.

"I was just fine before you. You're the one that fucked my life up,"I reply strongly.

"Oh, but you weren't. You weren't- aren't- happy with a life that doesn't include your parents and brother. You aren't happy with a life of bouncing in and out of foster homes. Really, I'm just doing the honorable thing here."

I don't know how he knows any of those things. Just like I didn't know how Lauren knew them. I don't dwell on it, though. It isn't worth it; I might not the night anyways, especially with the fact that Peter has a gun. There is honestly practically nothing I can do in th position Peter has me in. My arms are stuck by my side's, and my feet are too far away from his head to be of much help.

So I do the only possible thing there is to do: I spit in his face. It proves to be an awful idea. He calmly wipes it off and stares at me. "That wasn't very nice was it? Probably not very smart either, seeing our positions."

Without warning, he swings the butt of the pistol into my temple. My vision goes totally white for a second, but I eventually regain my vision. I'm sure that I would have screamed, or even felt it, if I didn't have so much adrenaline rushing though me.

"Now, be a good little girl and stop fighting. I promise you will only make things worse on yourself,"he says like he is talking to a two year old. "Let me do my thing and I will make sure that nothing ever happens to you again."

Because I will be dead. He doesn't say it, but my imminent death is obviously implied.

"Don't move,"he demands. He gives me one swift slap to the face before pointing his pistol squarely at my chest, effectively making me stop all of my movements, not that I was making many in the first place.

This can't be happening right now. I can be pinned down by the person who has been abusing me and that I thought was gone. He can't have a pistol pointed to my chest, ready to shoot at any chosen moment. And I can't let him do this.

I have been completely motionless, but I take him by surprise when I use all of my remaining strength to grab his arm with the pistol in it and throw his body backwards onto the ground.

He shouts in surprise, but I don't want to stay around to hear anything else he says. I give him one swift kick to the crotch, and he seems to roll in on himself. I just need to hold him off long enough for me to get away. I ignore the excruciating pain in my back and take off running as fast as my feet and back will let me.

I feel like I am flying through the yard. I look at my feet expecting flames or something, but I see that the aren't moving as fast as I need them to. What I do see instead of flames is blood.

The blood from my back must have dripped all of the way though my been a, to my shoes. The bleeding is worse than I thought. And that is when I know that I am probably going to die. I won't be able to even stand for much longer, let alone run.

Even if Peter doesn't get to me with that gun, I am sure to bleed to death soon. At one time, I thought that I wanted to die. It was after my family died, and I was in a bad place. I had this crazy delusion that if I died then maybe one of them would come back. I know now that it was completely unrealistic, but I was so desperate. I thought of different ways that I could die, but I never did it, even though I thought I wanted to die.

But I don't anymore. I thought that I didn't care about my life much, but I know now that I do. I want to live. I have just begun living again. I have people that care about me for the first time since the death of my parents and my brother. Tori has taken me in; Tori, Zeke, and Four all saved my life; and Four.

I don't know what it is about him, but he is important to me. He cares about me enough to let me cry through his shirt in the middle of the library, to tell me that he is always here for me, that I can trust him. He beat up the boy that was hurting me at Zeke's party even though he didn't know me that well, and he helped save my life.

I don't want to die; I don't want to leave all of these people that I care about and that care about me. I don't want to leave Zeke, or Christina, or Uriah, or Shauna, or the girls on the track team, or Tori, or not even Lynn. And definitely not Four.

I want to live. For the first time in a really long time, I have reasons to continue living my life.

I tell my legs to speed up,and they do, but not as much as I need them to. I need to go to a neighbor and get them to call 911. I make it to the road before long and start running towards the closest house that I know of. I saw one while Tori was driving here. But it is still pretty far away.

And before I can get very far, I hear a gunshot. It doesn't seem real to me, so I keep on going. But in that split second that my foot comes in front of me to take another step, there is a blood curdling scream. All of the sudden, I am on the ground, but the screaming doesn't stop.

I can't move, but I have no idea why; all I can do is stare at the shoes approaching me. They are getting closer and closer until they are right in front of me. Peter straddles me once again. I expect him to be screaming, but he isn't. And I know that I am the one screaming. That is when I notice an excruciating pain in my shoulder. If possible, I scream even louder than before.

It feels like all of the bones in my shoulder are crunching together and breaking like tiny shards of glass, and I am helpless to stop it.

I just got shot. Peter just shot me.

My chances of survival now are microscopic. With all of the blood drawing from my back and now the bullet wound, I am most likely going to pass out in a matter of minutes, if that. At least my death will be swift, and I will die in my sleep.

But I still can't let myself lose hope. I can't let myself go without a fight. I can't die. Not now that I have so much to live for.

Peter is seemingly yelling at me, but my ears are ringing loudly, making it impossible to hear a word he says. He acually looks pretty stupid yelling but no words coming out. My ears suddenly give one loud pop an I can hear what he is saying, even though I already missed at least half of his speech.

"What are you going to do now, you little bitch? You're done for. Now all I have to do is make the most of the rest of your life, and then I will mercifully kill you if you aren't dead by the time I'm done,"he says with his voice full of malice.

I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. He can't do this to me; but at the same time, it isn't like I can do anything to stop him.

He put the gun down once he is sure that I can't move. My hands are going numb; I don't think I could move them anyways. He moves downwards to where he is sitting on ,but he can still kneel on my arms to ensure my motionlessness. I try not to think of where his body is and what it is implying. I can't afford to think about it right now.

So instead, I start to get excited about the fact that he put the gun down and that he isn't going to threaten me with it anymore.

Until he pulls out a knife.

All of my excitement instantly fades away and is replaced by even more fear. There are so many different was that he could hurt me with that knife.

I am frozen in fear. I can't even move or yell or do anything when he brings the knife up to the collar of my shirt and begins to cut it. This is definitely the worst thing he could do to me with that knife.

He finally cuts all the way down my shirt to where it looks like a vest, my bra and stomach visible for him to see. The entire time, he is only smiling viciously.

And then he starts on the button on my pants.

I still can't move to do anything. He unzips them and somehow pulls them off of my legs without even getting up. And then he starts on my bra.

"I never knew how to work these things,"he tells me, like he is an old friend of mine. Some friend.

He takes the knife to my chest, but instead of stabbing me like he has the chance to do, he only cuts through the middle of the bra, but doesn't uncover me.

He gets to work on my panties. "I can't believe you didn't even dress up for me,"he yells.

It's true. Not the for him part, just the dressing up part. I am wearing white cotton panties and a plain nude bra. Well, what was a bra.

He cuts each side of my panties and rips them off of me without warning. My head is just continually shaking, but I kep my eyes trained on him. I didn't even notice that I had tears running down my face until now. I can't believe that this is going to happen to me again. First Eric and now Peter.

I guess I kind of deserve it for letting my entire family die without me. This is my punishment for being alive, for not dying in that car accident. I deserve every bit of this.

"Well, little Trissy. Looks like you got ready for me after all."

I'm going to throw up.

He reaches up for my bra, but instead cuts a line from the tip of my shoulder to the center of my chest. I'm sure that it should hurt, but I can't feel a thing right now. "Now, don't move,"Peter warns.

Once he is done with that, he reaches to my bra and uncovers me. "You look like a twelve year old, Tris,"he says condescendingly. Like its my fault that I have smaller than average boobs. When he reaches to touch one, I finally unfreeze and jump into action.

I move my entire back away from him in attempt to turn over. It kills my back, but I keep going. I bet the pain would be crippling if I could feel anything right now.

But Peter will have none of it. He brings the tip of the knife to my side and cuts all of the way to my hip, effectively putting a stop to all of my movement. The cuts aren't deep, but they are going to leave scars. That is, if I miraculously survive this.

When I tried to turn, it must have hurt my back even more because I am seeing black spots. I am about to pass out. And that will let Peter do anything he wants with me.

I must be hallucinating because I see what looks like headlights. I would be excited, but I know that they aren't real. The black spots continue to dot my vision. I must lose control of my body because my head rolls to the side and my arms go limp.

I'm almost gone. Peter is still talking, but I can't hear anything; my ears are ringing far too loudly for any noise to be heard over it. The headlights are still there, but Peter doesn't see them, so they are probably a hallucination. I must be going crazy from the blood loss.

I am almost gone when I see a figure tackle Peter off of me. They roll on the ground until the shadowed figure is on top and punching Peter. The figure punches again and again and again. I lose count, by I see blood running down Peter's already bruised face. His head rolls to the side; he is unconscious, but the figure doesn't stop.

Until he looks back at me. I can't make out his face, but I hear a vague voice that says something that sounds slightly similar to Tris. And then I hear 'oh God.' Loud and clear. The figure, which looks like a boy judging by the shape of his face, looks very familiar. I know the curve of that jaw and the deep set shape of the eyes.

The shape comes over to me and cradles me. I feel fabric cover eed body. The mystery guy picks me up, with families arms, and rocks me. I hear sobs, but I can't tell if they are from me or the mystery guy that saved me. I still can't make out the face. I can't process who this is in my mind, I am too far gone. I see the full, familiar lips shape into words. "Call 911, Tori!"

He kisses my forehead, and I know this gesture. But I still can't think of who it is. Until his smell hits me. A comforting mix of metal, sweat, and sweetness that can only belong to one person.

"Four," I croak.

And then I drift off into darkness with his strong arms still rocking me and his lips on my forehead. I guess this is the best way to go. At least I died with someone I care about.

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><p><strong>Well,hello again:) I am so extremely sorry that I haven't updated in a really long time. I was severely grounded for something that wasn't even my fault.<strong>

**I am still in trouble, so I only get to use my kindle every once in a while. My parents really know how to punish me in the worst ways.**

**Therefore, I won't be able to update very often. At best, I will update in less than two weeks. I don't really know what the at worst is.**

**I hope you guys liked this crazy, dramatic chapter, because I really enjoyed writing it:)**

**I love all of y'all for reviewing. I really liked those weird facts from Paige. And the reviewer that said that I used the kind of vocabulary that would be in a good book. That meant a lot to me, especially since.I only just turned fourteen. I love it when I get a review; they make my day, everyday:)**

**I'm sorry that this chapter wasn't quite as long as the last few, but I didn't have as much time to write it.**

Read on and stay classy:)

Ty:)


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Tris's** **pov**

Once again, I wake up to blindingly bright lights and stark white walls. There is a loud beeping beside me that I can't place. My eyes squint in attempt to fight off the light. For a blissful moment, I am confused. I don't know where I am or how I got here.

And then it comes crashing back to me like a painful wave. And I can't take it. Peter. The attempted rape. The cuts. They flash before my eyes so quickly that I barely have any time to comprehend them. But I do. I know that Peter tried to kill me; but before that, he was going to rape me.

I can't remember what happened afterwards. All I remember is Four saving me, once again, and holding me.

Two nurses suddenly come running in, looking around the room frantically. I don't know what is happening until I realize I'm screaming. I realize it, but I can't seem to stop. I'm hysterically screaming and crying at the same time. I can't even breathe. The beeping beside me is speeding up. I feel a prick in my arm and I am out once again.

The next time I wake up, the beeping is back to normal. I look around me and see a button that says 'press for assistance.' I press it and a middle-aged nurse with dark skin comes into my room almost immediately.

"Hello Beatrice," she says with a wide, pleasant smile. "I'm your nurse, Julia. I'm going to need to ask you a few questions." Her voice is soothing in only a way that a mother's could be. It makes my heart constrict; she reminds me of my mom.

I nod and open my mouth to speak. "I go by Tris," I manage to croak out.

She grabs a cup of water and helps me take small sips from it.

"Thank you," I tell her.

"You're welcome, honey. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

My heart jumps. She is going to ask me to tell her about last night. Or a few nights ago. I don't know how many days I was out for.

Even though I am terrified to talk about it, I reluctantly nod my head.

"Can you tell me your full name?" This one I can answer. At least it isn't a loaded question.

"Beatrice Allison Prior."

"That's a beautiful name," she tells me kindly. I don't think this woman could be anything other than kind.

"Thank you."

"Can you tell me your birthday?"

"November 13, 1997." **(Author's** **Note!:** **I'm** **really** **awful** **at** **math,** **but** **I'm** **pretty** **sure** **that** **this** **would** **make** **her** **sixteen**. **Sorry** **if** **it** **doesn't,** **but** **it** **isn't** **that** **big** **of** **a** **deal.** **Sue** **me.)**

"That's only a few weeks away."

I only nod weakly in response. I had totally forgotten about my birthday with all of the things that have been going on lately, which is pretty reasonable.

"Do you know where you are?"

"I'm in Chicago. I'm assuming that I'm in a hospital."

She nods her head.

"Do you remember anything about why you are here?" She sounds reluctant to ask it, but I'm not feeling so hot about answering it.

I nod my head. I unfortunately remember all of it.

"So, Tris, you don't seem to have any amnesia. So that's good news."

I wish I did have amnesia. Maybe I could have forgotten what Peter did to me.

She starts to walk out of the room, but my voice stops her. "Aren't you going to ask me about what happened?"

She shakes her head in response. "You are going to need to speak with a police officer later. When you are better. We don't need you having another panic attack," she says with a smile.

I manage a weak smile in return. I'm sure it looks like more of a grimace.

"Can I have visitors yet?" I'm hoping that Four is here, even though I know that it is selfish to wish that he stayed at overnight at a hospital to see me. Or however many nights.

"You can have them two at a time. You have quite a few of them. One young man even went so far to stay here the entire time you were out. We eventually had to get him a stretcher to sleep on, not that he slept very much at all. You must be a special person for all of those people to care about you."

"Thank you, Julia." But I need to know something else. "Wait!," I call. "How long was I out for?"

She lets out a slow breathe, like she doesn't want to tell me the answer. "You were out for eight days. Your injuries were so severe that we had to put you in a medically induced coma so that you could heal without being in so much pain."

I don't respond. I don't think I can. I can't believe that Peter put me out for eight whole days. So I decide to not think about it right now.

"Thank you," I whisper.

She nods and walks out of the room.

A few minutes later, Christina and Uriah come running full speed into my room. I'm sure they got death glares from the nurses and doctors. I'm also positive that Chistina and Uriah completely disregarded said death glares.

They stop when they get to my bed. Christina goes straight into hug mode. She wraps her thin arms around me and squeezes, making me yelp in pain.

She pulls back immediately. "Oh, I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to. I'm sure you are already hurt enough; the last thing I want to do is hurt you even more," she blurts out remarkably fast, except she is sobbing, so I can barely make it out.

"Chris, I'm alright. I'm just a little bruised and cut up, nothing to worry about."

"Don't you dare do that, Tris! Don't act like you're okay and you aren't hurt right now. It's okay to not be okay. It's actually the most appropriate reaction in this situation," she squeaks.

Oh no. Do they know about Peter? God, I hope not. I decide to play dumb. "This situation?"

Uriah butts in. "Tori told us a little about what happened. Just that Peter came to Tori's and tried to kill you. He shot you Tris."

"Yeah, I remember. All of it." Unfortunately. I can still feel my shoulder throbbing even though I most likely have so many pain medicines running though me right now and despite the fact that it has already had time to heal.

"It kind of sounded like there was something she wasn't telling us, though," Uriah says like he is asking a question.

I can't do this right now. I can't tell them that Peter almost raped me. And he would have if Four hadn't saved my life once again. I wouldn't be here at all if he hadn't saved me.

What Peter did to me forced me into unconsciousness for eight whole days.

One hundred and ninety-two hours.

I still can't wrap my head around it. I never thought that anything like that could ever happen to me. I still don't like to think about what he did to me.

He almost killed me. But worse, Peter almost raped me before he killed me. He was going to take what little innocence I had left from Eric.

And I can't believe that I was so powerless to stop it. All of that running and boxing and training was for absolutely nothing, because when it came down to it, I couldn't defend myself; I am just as weak as Peter himself. When I was supposed to be at my strongest, all that I was, all that I could be, was weak.

I shake my head at him. "Maybe I'll tell you all one day, but I'm just not ready yet," I say quietly.

He nods. "Of course. Just know that you can trust us. We would never judge you. No matter what." But they would. I know that they all would judge me for being so damn weak.

Christina is still sobbing her eyes out, but she sounds like she is trying to get it under control. "We have to go; they don't want us back here for too long. We're going to talk about this later, okay? We'll have a girl's day at my house after you get better. Just you and me."

That actually doesn't sound too bad. I might need a girl's day with her after this. I'm sure I look like horse shit. "Okay,"I tell her. "Thanks for coming, guys. It means a lot."

After they both give me bone crunching hugs and say their goodbyes, they leave the room. Zeke comes in a minute later and stands right beside my bed.

"Hey stranger," he says. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been busy,"I say jokingly, but his face falls.

"Tris, I thought you were going to be okay after you went to live with Tori and Four. Why do you get all the bad luck. You don't deserve it at all," he say indignantly.

Zeke and I have had an understanding between us since the day after the party. He is like an older brother to me now. "It just worked out this way," I say.

"Yeah, well it's fucked up. You shouldn't have had to go though that."

"I'll be okay," I assure him.

"Damn straight you will. You're a fighter,"he whispers. "I'll come visit you later." I nod my head to that. He kisses my head in brotherly manner and walk out the door.

A few minutes later, Four walks in. I'm excited to see him; he saved my life of course, so there's that. But it's also more than that. Maybe I'm just not ready to admit it to myself yet. Especially considering what just happened with Peter.

I am concerned as soon as I see his face. His face is blotchy and his eyes have bags under them and are bloodshot. Like he has been crying. "What's wrong? Who do I need to beat up?" I ask him, totally serious about the beating up someone part.

He looks at be dubiously, like I just grew another head. And then he smiles and shakes his head disbelievingly at me. "Are you seriously asking me what's wrong, Tris?" He asks while laughing slightly. "You are sitting in a hospital bed with tubes hooked up to you after being in a coma for eight days. That's not even stating the obvious about what put you here on the first place."

"So what's wrong with you?"

He lets out a loud laugh. "You're so damn selfless, you know that?" I expect him to stop and say that he is lying about me being selfless, but he only continues. "You almost died, Tris. I thought you were going to die. I'm perfectly fine. You should be worrying about yourself for once in your life. You always put other people first because you think you don't deserve to be noticed, but that is totally wrong. Think about you. How are you?"

His speech has taken me by surprise. I didn't expect that, but it was so heartfelt that he almost has me believing it. "I'm sure I'll be okay,"I lie.

The true is that I don't know if I'm okay. I was almost raped by Peter. After being raped repeatedly by Eric. I was shot and, if I remember correctly, Peter cut me up pretty badly. Even if my body fully heals, and I'm not totally sure it will, I don't know if I can handle this situation emotionally.

"Liar. Tris, it's okay. It's just me here. How are you really?" His voice is so comforting that I automatically know that I can't keep this from him.

"I don't know, Four. I was shot and sliced up with a knife. And he almost raped me, which doesn't even matter anymore. And I'm sure my body with heal up okay, but I don't know if everything else will. I just don't know what to do," I say all at once. And all of the sudden, I can't take it anymore; I start to sob uncontrollably.

Four doesn't hesitate to hold me once again. He puts one hand on the back of my neck and one on the side of my face. I don't even think before wrapping my arms around him. I think, for a fleeting moment, how perfectly we fit together.

He rests his chin on my head and makes soothing noises. It actually calms me down.

"What do you mean that Peter almost raping you doesn't matter anymore? It will always matter,"he say gently.

"I've had worse," I blurt out, but I immediately notice my mistake. My tears stop on their own and my hand comes to cover my mouth. I can't believe I just said that.

He looks confused and then angry, but not at me. He locks his dark blue eyes to my light ones intensely.

Just as he is about to open his mouth to speak, Julia comes into the room. She looks at Four and then her eyes flicker back to me for just a second. "Visitation hours are over. I'm sorry, but you have to go," she tells Four politely but sternly.

He looks conflicted, but in the end, he looks at me and says, "We'll talk about this later, okay? Just worry about getting better." He looks at me for a few more seconds before exiting the room.

Julia smiles at me and starts to walk out. "Wait,"I call after her. "When can I leave?"

"The doctor need to check you over and if he says it is okay, you will be released in a few hours."

"Thank you," I respond. She smiles and walks away.

I can't stop thinking about what I said to Four. I can't believe that I said it at all, let alone without even thinking about it. It just came out of my mouth. I word vomited all over the place. And now he is going to ask me questions.

The worst thing is that I don't want to keep it a secret anymore. Not to him. I honestly don't think he would judge me about Eric. It's just that I don't want to replay the entire thing in my head again.

I'm still thinking when the doctor comes into the room to see if I am well enough to be released. After awkwardly showing him my cuts and gunshot wound (none of which I have the courage to look at), he gives me some healing ointments and bandages with directions to clean my injuries thoroughly and wrap them firmly, he says that I may go.

Julia comes into my room with a wheelchair a little while later. It has some clothes on the seat which I assume are for me. She shuts the door behind her. "Tori got some clothes for you to go home in," she says.

After gingerly helping me into them, (and by helping me, I mean almost totally dressing me herself since it hurts to move) she helps me into the wheelchair. I don't even fight it this time because I know how badly I need it. She wheels me down a maze of hallways before I am finally in the lobby where Tori and Four are waiting for me.

Tori give me a hugenormous hug. "I'm so sorry, Tris,"she says with tears threatening to spill over.

I shake my head immediately. "Don't think it was your fault. It wasn't at all. You took me in and protected me the best you could. It isn't your fault that Peter is a psycho," I say with force. And it wasn't her fault at all. It was my own for being weak.

She looks like she wants to say more,but she refrains. I look at Four to see him looking right back at me. He looks curious and even angrier than he looked when he left my room. I look away quickly, before I can do something stupid like cry.

Tori pushes me to the car and Four picks me up and sets me in the back seat.

"I could have done it myself, you know,"I mumble.

"Undoubtledly." I try to find the sarcasm in that statement, but I didn't hear any. I know it had to be there.

He climbs into back seat with me. It confuses me, but I don't say anything about it. He connects our hands without warning, and I jump.

"Sorry," he say shyly.

I smile at the sight of him being so shy. If I weren't so confused about us, I would call it cute.

"Don't be,"I say as I give his hand a squeeze.

He ride in silence for the rest of the trip to Tori's. When we arrive, Four picks me up again and carries me inside. Even though I can do it myself, I don't fight because I like the feeling of being in his arms. He carries me like I weigh nothing, which is probably accurate since I have lost some more weight since Zeke's party. I can't even remember the last time I ate.

I close my eyes tightly the entire way; I don't want to remember the stuff about Peter right now.

"Where do you want to go?" he asks.

"My room; I'm kind of tired. I just want to sleep."

He sets me down on my bed when we get there and covers me with the blanket at the end of the bed. I notice that someone cleaned up the mess that I left here the other night.

I snuggle into the blanket. "Thank you, Four."

He looks conflicted and bunches his eyebrows together, which, again, would be totally adorable if I weren't so confused about everything that has been happening lately. "Do me a favor and don't call me that," he says, putting a hand on my face.

Now it is my turn to be confused. What is that supposed to mean? "What should I call you, then?"

He smiles slightly. "Nothing, for now."

And with that, he kisses my forehead and walks out, closing the door behind himself.

I yawn and my eyes begin to shut on their own accord. I'm too tired to even think about what happened just now with Four. I'll think when I wake up. And I fall asleep.

* * *

><p>I wake up an hour later sweating and panting with tears rolling down my face. Nightmare. I don't even remember what it was about, but I could take a wild guess.<p>

I slash water on my face in the bathroom and walk out without looking at my reflection in the mirror. I don't want to see what a mess I am. I walk into the living room to see Four, Tori, and another man sitting beside Tori. They look at me expectantly, like they were waiting for me to come.

I take the empty seat on the couch beside Four and look at him questionably.

"Tris, this is my husband, Bud."

The tall, brunette man smiles at me. "So, you are the famous Tris that Tori and Four have been telling me so much about. It is so nice to finally meet you."

He is so nice. I instantly know that I like him. I smile brightly at him. This is probably the first time I've smiled for real in a long time. "Yes, sir. I'm Tris Prior. It's nice to meet you too."

His eyes widen. "And what manners. You are going to be a great new addition to this family."

I tear up at that. Four notices immediately. "Hey, what's wrong?" He looks really worried.

I smile though the tears at Tori and Bud, who are looking equally as worried.

"It's nothing. I'm great; I just haven't had a real family in a long time. It's really amazing. I never thought I would have a family again."

"Well," Bud starts, "you do now."

"Thank you so much," I tell to both Bud and Tori. "It means so much to me that you took me in. I have a feeling that everything is going to be really good here."

"It will be,"Four says to me as he grabs my hand and squeezes. It doesn't even surprise me anymore that he does that, just that he would even want to.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think we all need to have a discussion about what you said at the hospital. We need to know what you have been though so that we can always be there for you," Four says, looking apologetic.

I'm positive my face immediately shows how afraid I am because Four hurries to reassure me. "We aren't going to judge you. We just want- need to know."

I look at Tori and Bud and they nod encouragingly.

This means that I have to tell them all about Eric. About that summer that I have been trying so damned hard to forget about.

I make sure that I am squeezing Four's hand. Just his simple touch makes me feel better. I take a deep breathe and open my mouth to start telling them about the worst times of my life.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, guys! I am so very sorry that it took me so long to update. I swear I'm doing the best I can. I hardly ever get my kindle anymore and I have a really hectic life.<strong>

**I know that this thapter is kind of boring and that I left you with a cliff-hanger. I apologize profusely for that. I'm doing my very best and I am still barely fourteen years old. I liked writing this chapter and I hope that y'all enjoy reading it. Review and tell me what you think about it.**

**Speaking of reviews, thank y'all so much for all of your amazing reviews. Thank you melC92 for ideas, once again. Keep reviewing everyone! At the moment, I have 199 reviews for thirteen chapters. I look some other stories with a crazy amount of chapters, but they don't have very many reviews, so thanks for supporting my story. No one in my family or any of my friends know that I even know what fanfiction is, let alone that I am writing one. So y'all are the only support system I have. And y'all are my way of knowing if the story is coming along well or not.**

**Dear Paige, I really love you're reviews:) (and even your sister's). By , I just so happen to have a very deaf dog, so the barking one wouldn't work for me.**

**I'm also really sorry that this chapter is shorter than some of the previous ones. I did my best. The next one will be longer and so so so so so much more intense. **

**If any of you have any ideas for this story, please don't hesitate to send them to me. I love new ideas! I can't promise that I will use them, but I can promise that I will take every single one into consideration and give you credit if I use it.**

**By the way, I know that the FourTris in this story is really slow, but I'm doing that on purpose. I despise those stories in which they tell each other that they love each other within the first few chapters. It is infuriating!(No offense to those stories.) Tris has had more important things to worry about lately besides Four. But I promise that there will be more FourTris and some less serious stuff in the upcoming chapters.**

**I'll try updating more quickly!**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:) **


	15. Chapter 15

**Four's/** **Tobias**' **pov**

**Chapter** **15**

"A couple of years ago, when I was fourteen, my brother's best friend stayed with us for an entire summer. I had always been weary of him, so I just did my best to stay away. I would stay at my friend's house as often as I could, or I would hole myself in my room and read. I thought I was nothing to him. Just his best friend's little sister, right?" She stops and lets out a humorless laugh at that.

I already don't like where this story is going. By the way Tris is picking at a paint spot on her pants with the hand that isn't clamped tightly in mine, I can tell that she is trying to avoid looking at us. She is afraid that we are going to judge her. I know because I've been in her position before, when I told Zeke about Marcus. But Tris can't seriously be afraid that we will think any less of her because of something that happened to her, could she?

I could never think of her as anything less than amazing. The way she has handled everything proves that she is so very strong, the strongest person I know. But right at this moment, she looks vulnerable, and I hate seeing her this way.

I decide to put her thoughts of being judged to rest. "Tris, don't worry; we won't judge you. We know you've been though some serious stuff and that you have been hurt. But we also know that you have been strong enough to overcome that and be the amazing girl you are today," I tell her strongly, because I believe it; I know it is true.

I'm not usually (and by not usually, I mean never) one for mushy things or being nice at at all, but I need to assure Tris that she can tell us (me) anything without us (me) thinking any less of her.

She looks up at me and I almost let out a gasp at the pain in her eyes. This story is going to be torturous to tell, and it is incredible how strong she is to tell it to us. I also almost gasp at the way her mouth twitches into an almost smile that almost reaches her eyes. Only Tris could (almost) smile in a situation like this.

She gives an almost imperceptible nod of her head and continues. "Well, he took a special interest in me; I guess him never seeing me ,from my trying to keep it that way, only made him want to get to me. At first, he just started coming to my room to tell me that dinner was ready or whatever, something that my brother usually did. I didn't think anything of it; I just figured that Caleb had gotten tired of coming to get his little sister for dinner everyday and sent Eric to do it."

Eric. I put that name in my mind; I know that he is the one that hurt Tris by the way she spit out his name like it was poisonous. I clench my fist so tightly that I feel my nails dig into my hand even though my nails are short. I glance down at my hand and see that the knuckles are white, the same as Tris's. I don't think I will ever be able to look at another Eric in the world without wanting to punch them to death.

I can't even begin to imagine the horrible places this story is going by the way she is building up to it. I need to know what happened. So far, I don't know how bad it was, so I need to stop getting so worked up. I take a deep breathe to calm myself and look at Tris for her to continue.

"Then, after about a week of that, he started to come downstairs at the same time I did, most of the time at breakfast. He never ate breakfast, just watched me make mine until I went upstairs because I was freaked out by him just sitting there and _watching _me. It only got weirder after that. Twice, I caught him peeking in my door at me when I woke up, even though I had always made sure to close my door before I went to bed every night. I didn't have a lock on my door, so that was out of the question. First mistake."

I scrutch my eyebrows up in confusion. What does she mean by first mistake? So far, I already want to kill that Eric guy. Nobody should be watching Tris that closely. He was a stalker and by the sound of it, she was terrified of him. And maybe she still is. I want to tell her that it is okay now, that she is okay, but I know that there is more to the story. Having a stalker- while creepy and a very serious matter and potentially dangerous- wouldn't have affected Tris like it has. She is much too strong for that. Something much worse happened, and I'm not sure im ready to hear it, just as she probably doesn't think she is ready to tell it.

"It got to where I would wake up in the middle of the night only to find him in my room, watching me sleep. I didn't want to tell my parents because they strongly believed in selflessness and taught Caleb and I to believe in it too. Eric was Caleb's best friend; it would have been selfish of me to tear apart their friendship even though I was scared out of my mind," she says. Her breathing is getting hard and her voice is strained, but she is plowing through it. This just helps prove how incredible Tris really is.

"I was so scared that I slept in my closet a few times, but after the third night, I woke up in the morning, and my closet door was open even though I made sure to close it. I just couldn't get away from him. He was everywhere!" She throws her free hand up in the air for added effect, as if we needed any.

"I thought I could handle it, and I was handling it; I was scared, and I didn't much, but I could live with it until the end of the summer. Until one night," she says through gritted teeth. Her eyes are glassy, and the tears are about to spill out, but she is keeping them from doing so.

"Hey," I tell her, "it's okay to let it out. You don't have to be so strong all the time. Everybody breaks down at some time or another. You can take a break if you need to."

She looks up at me suddenly, like she had forgotten she was talking to other people, telling us her story. She stares at me for a few seconds... And then for a few more seconds... and for a few more... until at least a minute has passed and it is officially socially unacceptable for her to be looking at me.

But I don't care what is socially acceptable and what isn't. What I care about is that Tris is staring at me and I feel like my body is on fire and is going to combust in a matter of seconds. And I feel like my insides are turning in on themselves, no matter how cliché and girly (hormanal, teenaged girly) that sounds; I now know where that reference comes from.

But Tris breaks her stare, her cheeks turning bright red. "No, I need to do this. For myself," she says, an even though her face is turned foward, I can still see determination flash in her blue-gray eyes.

And there she is, the Tris that I look up to. The Tris that gives me strength when I have run out, even if she doesn't know it yet. That flash of determination reassures me and makes me proud as hell of her.

She takes a deep breathe and continues. "One night, or morning, it was like two in the morning, I was reading because I was too scared to sleep. I heard my door open, so I closed my eyes and made it look like I fell asleep while I was in the middle of the book; I didn't have time to turn the lamp off, and I thought it was a really good plan."

It was. Her fourteen year old self must have been pretty smart. I'm guessing that it didn't work though. That thought itself make my blood boil. But I need to stay calm for Tris, to be strong for her, so I push it away and wait for her to continue.

"I figured 'hey, he can't do anything to me while I'm asleep. He'll just leave me alone and walk out. What would he possibly do anyways?' It had been a rhetorical question at the time." And there goes the tear, just one. It slowly glides down her cheek down to her chin and drips down into her lap, but she never acknowledges it, she only pushes through to finish her story.

"As it turns out, there was a whole hell of a lot he could do," she says spitefully. Bud and Tori don't even flinch at her language. I had forgotten they were even here, because they have been so quiet. Silently letting Tris get through this on her own. Tori is halfway, sideways hugging Bud, and they have identical expressions of a mix of pity, disgust, and horror on their faces. They probably couldn't speak if they wanted to.

"He say, and I quote, 'Hey there Bea Bea, I know you aren't asleep. Why don't you just drop the act so we can get on with the lesson?'" Her small body is wracked with shivers when she says it.

I need to comfort her,(and myself because I am about to go ape and shoot every Eric I can find, or anybody who I think looks like their name should be Eric) so I take my right hand out of hers, and she momentarily looks confused and hurt, but the expression quickly goes away when I wrap it around her shoulders and intertwine my left hand with her right one. My hand around her shoulders soothingly rubs circles into her upper arm. I was afraid that this gesture would scare her, but it seems to have the opposite effect and she leans into my touch.

"I remember all of it; I remember wishing that I would black out from the pain, but I didn't. I tried to fight him, but he was a lot bigger than I was even though he wasn't that much older than me. I tried to scream, but he slapped me before I could and told me that it would be selfish to let my parents see him doing this."

"And I knew he was wrong!" She yells it, raising her voice louder than she has this whole time. She is mad, but I can't tell if it at herself or at _him_ "I knew he was wrong," she says, her voice softer this time.

Another tear leaks from her eyes. And another one. And then a few more, until they are steadily streaming down her face. She is either aggressively ignoring them, or she simply doesn't know that they are even there. I highly suspect the latter.

"I just kind of... gave up. I gave up, and I was weak. I let him violate me without much of a fight. I kept thinking that if i ignored it, then it wasn't happening. I didn't fucking do anything, I just let him. He took everything from me. When he was done with me, he hit me in places that people wouldn't see, and threatened to kill my family if I told anyone. And I think he would have; he was a psyco, and he was over all the time anyways, being Caleb's friend and such, it would have been so easy for him to hurt my family, so I didn't tell them or anyone else."

"He came in every night after that. I tried staying at my friend's house, but that just made it worse the next time. I couldn't get away from it, and I couldn't tell anyone. I was helpless. And he raped me every night for almost an entire summer. I was a walking zombie after, like, the seventh time. It was like my body and mind weren't even connected. I had to pretend to be happy around my parents and Caleb, especially Caleb. I couldn't let him find out anything. I was dead on the inside though; I stopped reading, stopped having friends, stopped sleeping, stopped eating. I didn't want to live, but I had to, because I had no idea what Eric would do to them if I was gone."

"I was so scared all the time, and I jumped every time I saw a shadow, or movement out of the corner of my eye, or someone walking up to me. I couldn't get away from him. He was in my house. After the summer ended, I was so broken. My parents had noticed, but I just told them that I had a headache or something; they were too selfless to push me any more than that."

"Eric moved to California after the summer, but he promised that he had eyes and ears here and that he would know if I ever told. He said that he would make good on his promise to kill my family. So I didn't tell. He said that after he killed my family, he would come back for me."

My breathing is heavy and I see black spots in my vision. I am being blinded by anger of what happened to her, of what that little fucker did to Tris.

_My_ _Tris._

This isn't possible. I need to hit something, or break something, or whatever else. But that isn't an option. I wrap my other arm around her and hold her to my body. She instatly melt into me and stops sobbing uncontrollably. She is wailing and releasing these animalistic sounds that can't possibly come from someone as small as Tris, but they are. She is fragile, and I'm scared that I won't be able to put her back together if she breaks. She might have to do it herself. Maybe she is the only thing that can fix herself.

I pick her up and carry her to her bedroom. I gently, as not to break her, set her down on the bed. Once I set her down, her sobs turn into quiet whimpers. I kneel by her bed and smooth her soft hair away from her teary face until the whimpers have quieted and her eyes start to close.

I place a soft kiss on her forehead and start to walk away when I hear, "Wait." It was soft, but it was there.

I quickly turn around to look at her. I can't help but think that Tris, even when she is at her worst, is still beautiful.

"Yes?"

"Can you...stay with me?" She looks shocked that she said it, and I'm sure I do too. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Nevermind. It was a stupid question anyway," she hurries to backtrack.

"Hey," I say, effectively cutting off her ramble. "Of course I'll stay. I'll do anything for you, Tris."

I quickly grab a pillow from the other side of her and the blanket from the end of the bed and make myself a spot on the floor and unceremoniously plop down onto it.

"Thank you, Four. For everything," she says seriously. But it doesn't sound right, not from her mouth, and not after she just went through the worst times of her life in front of three people.

"Don't call me that," I tell her. She isn't aware that I'm making one of the biggest decisions of my life. Once I tell her my name, I am making a promise to tell her of the worst times of _my_ life. She isn't aware of how much I trust her already.

"Then what should I call you?" Her eyes are questioning. She hadn't expected me to tell her that.

"Nothing yet," I reply quietly.

I trust her, but I'm not ready yet. Plus, now is hardly the time to drop such a bomb on her. I will tell her, and I knw it won't be a mistake, but not yet.

She is even more confused, but her eyes betray her and are closing without her permission. "Goodnight, nothing," she mumbles sleepily as she falls asleep.

I chuckle at her comment even though she hadn't meant it to be funny, she is probably just too tired to filter her thoughts. "Goodnight, beautiful," I whisper, because a)everything she is, is beautiful, b)she probably doesn't hear it nearly as much as she deserves, c)she physically is, d) she is probably asleep and didn't even hear it, and e)she never ceases to amaze me.

She sacrificed herself for her family. She gave away everything to keep them safe.

I drift off to sleep with thoughts of my beautiful Tris and wondering how many years in prison I would get for murdering someone even though they more than deserve it and wondering how I could find Eric (said someone that deserved a good murder.)

* * *

><p><strong>And here it is! The fifteenth chapter of Make it Stop! I'm sorry that it took so long to update this chapter, like almost a month, but I was on a two week vacation, so my parents didn't really allow technology. I also had an awful case of writer's block. I knew what I wanted to say, but I didn't know how to say it.<strong>

**Thank you melC92 for giving me the idea to have this chapter in Tobias' slash Four's point of view. I really think Tris was too emotionally all over the place for me to write it in her point of view.**

**This chapter is definately my favorite one, but it was also the most difficult for me to write (because of personal experiences) so that also made it take a little longer than usual. It isn't even that long of a chapter, so I apologise.**

**The next chapter might take a while because I am going to Washington (the state)(which is like completely across the country for me) for three weeks, so I'm not sure when I can update next.**

**If you have any ideas of what you want the next chapter, or the rest of the story, to be like, just pm me or give me a review and I will respond to it. I love using y'all's ideas in story.**

**Thank you for all the reviews, I really love them. If I see that I have a lot, or an especially good one, I usually write at least some of the next chapter right then. So please review if you like my story/ this chapter and tell me what you like about it.**

**Sorry about any grammar issues or misspellings, my spell check went crazy, so I took it off. Now, I even have to capitalize my 'I' by myself. If you find one, (nicely) review what it was and I will fix it as soon as possible. And that doesn't mean to reread the chapter and look for mistakes! I can't stress that enough. If one pops out to you, then tell me.**

Umm...so this is really personal, but I will answer the guest question anyways. Don't judge me on what I say in this next paragraph.

Dear guest that asked the question about Tris's innocence: I've been in Tris's situation before, which is kind of why I am writing this story- as therapy. I couldn't tell anybody, because I was in a very difficult situation, so it went on for almost six years. I couldn't stop it because I was pretty young and overpowered. To this day, this is the only time I've ever told anyone about it, mostly because ya'll don't know who I am. Nobody else knows; I didn't feel like I could tell my family, just like Tris. Even though I don't have any literal innocence left, I still consider myself having mental innocence because I know that it wasn't my fault and because I am still young. That is how Tris is. She doesn't have actual innocence, but she is still innocent. If that makes any sense. I'm sorry this is so confusing, but to be fair, this is pretty difficult to write about. I hope that answers your question.

**I also recently realized that I haven't recognized all of my reviewers! If you reviewed, go find your name, and there might just be an author's note beside it. I will have to do this more often so there aren't as many names to write. Sorry if I messed your name up, please leave a review or pm me and tell me how to correct it and I will do so in the author's not of my next chapter...whenever that may be. So...without further ado...here are all of the reviewers! **

fortress- MY VERY FIRST REVIEW OF ALL TIME! (Twice)

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me

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melC92 (five times) (btw, guys, melC92 gave me a lot of the ideas that I used when I couldn't think of any;he/she is a genius!)

DauntlessProdigy4Life

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Epicness by Liv

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kari

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Raj (thrice)(because I'm to lazy to write three times.)

pillfreefriday (thrice)(your reviews are the nicest ever, and they give me encouragement to keep writing, so thank you:)) (and your name is fantastic)

Anna (twice)

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StomachTiedInKnots (great name)

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Lexi (I really appreciated your idea and would love to see more!)

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Paige (a whopping eleven times as of 4 in the morning this morning)(I always look foward to your reviews, because they always make me laugh so hard...like, my mom comes to check on me because I can't stop(especially the batman one))

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blackice999

kgpatty

FANGIRL

veronicarothintraining (your name is fantastic)

Udementium

Derps (twice)

ReadingStrings (great name)

Jazzyq (twice)

HEYHEYHEY

booknerdy11

123

divergentlover1005 (twice)

idshipus007 (great name)

**Thank y'all SOOO much; your reviews are what keep me writing:)**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:) (and yes, I am a girl. Ty is a nickname.)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Tris's point of view**

**Chapter Sixteen**

When I wake up the next morning, I am momentarily confused. Where am I? What am I doing sleeping in some strange bed?

And then I remember that this Tori's house and that I live here now. I guess it is kind of my house too. It is sort of strange that this my first night staying in this bed, in this room, made just for me. It's still hard to wrap my head around the fact that Tori did all of this for me. It's hard to wrap my head around anyone doing anything for me.

What is even harder to grasp is that she also wants to adopt me. I can't believe that she would want somebody so broken. Especially after hearing the awful things about my past last night. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want to adopt me anymore. Why would she want me for a child?

And then I realize what I just thought. 'Especially after hearing the awful things about my past last night.'

Holy shit.

I told them everything.

I told Tori, Bud, and Four, people that I only just met, all about Eric. I trust Tori and Four, they saved my life and have helped me through so much, but I bared my soul to them. I told them why I am so fucked up.

I told them about how Eric repeatedly raped me for an entire summer. I never told anyone that, not my few friends or family or social workers. Nobody knew until last night.

And I am okay with it. I am ookay with them knowing about it. That's the worst part.

I dont mind that Tori and Four know about me. (I might mind a little about Bud knowing since I only met him last night, but he seems nice enough, and I'm pretty sure that my secret is safe with him. I trust Tori, so I guess I will have to learn to trust him too.)

I told them because I trust them, and I know how much they have helped me. They are the closest thing to a family I have.

Family. Tori, Bud, and Four.

That feels too weird: calling Four family. I consider him family, I guess, but not the same kind as I consider Tori and Bud to be. But I guess when the adoption papers are official in a few months, we will be brother and sister.

And I hate it. I can't imagine Foir being a brother to me; he is something else entirely.

I can't bare to think about it anymore. The thoughts in my head are going crazy and I will just end up with a headache.

My face feels tight and sticky. I guess I didn't wipe off the tears from last night.

It is only 6:30 in the morning, and I am still pretty exhausted from everything that has happened lately, including the events of last night, so I decide to try and get some more sleep. I burrow back under my covers and close my eyes. My mind is shutting down and my breath is becoming deeper; I am almost asleep.

Until I hear a damn knock on the door.

"UHHG!" I groan (loudly, I might add) again and flip over, snuggling the sheets and comforter closer to my face. Ahh, peace.

Knock knock knock.

Are you freaking kidding me? I JUST WANT TO SLEEP!

"What?!" I didn't mean to yell it, but if they are going to wake me up before noon, they are going to be introduced to Grouchy Tris.

The door eases open to reveal an apologetic looking Four. As soon as I see his expression, I have less of an urge to murder someone. "Sorry about waking you up. I just know that you've missed a lot of school lately. You might want to think about coming today to catch up on some stuff. You don't have to if you don't feel up to it," he says sweetly.

"Ugh," is my only response.

"Okay; you should rest anyways,"he says while slowly closing the door and backing out of my door.

"Ugh!" I groan once more before throwing the covers off of me and stepping onto the warm wood floor. "Four," I call and then remember our conversation from last night. The conversation is broken up in my head, probably because I had just been in hysterics, but I rember that he told me not to call him Four. "No name," I correct myself.

My door swings open and his head pops back into my doorway. "Yes? Do you need anything? Why are you up? Go to sleep!" He says it all in a rush, and it is so endearing that I can't help but chuckle.

"I'm going to school. I have too much work to catch up on to skip another day. Would you mind if I rode with you?" I ask, my cheeks turning red at the question. Why would he want to ride with me? "I mean... I-I can walk myself. Or T-Tori can drive me. You don't have to. I know that-"

"Tris," he says with an amused expression on his face. I can't help but notice a little bit of sadness on his face from my question too. " of course you can ride with me. You don't have to ask, I had kind of already assumed that you would. I leave at 7:30, so that should give you enough time to get ready. I can leave a little later if you need more time to get ready."

"You know that you don't have to go today," he continues. "I don't want you to spread yourself too thin. You need to recover. I'm sure another one or two days of rest wouldn't matter too much."

When I first met Four on my first morning at Max's, I couldn't have possibly imagined him being this kind, considerate, and caring person. Especially towards me, yet here he is, waking me up for school but still trying to get me to heal in the quickest way possible.

I shake my head at him. "I just want things to go back to normal. No Peter, no hospital, no getting shot, no excitement. School is the least exciting place on the planet; it might help."

I had meant for it to be reassuring, but his frown grows until his face is almost comically frowning. It grows especially deep at the getting shot part.

"Hey," I say quietly, staring him straight in the eyes, but he breaks my gaze and looks down at his bare feet. "I'm okay." He looks back up at me dubiously. "I'll _be_ okay," I correct.

Because it is true. I am not okay right now, but I think that last night was a huge step foward for me, and I can feel myself getting better already. I feel a shift in my mood. As small as it may be, a small improvement is an improvement all the same. The road is going to be long and bumpy, but I am feeling more optimistic than ever that I will be okay. It will take a really long time, but I have Bud, Tori (my family), all my friends, and Four (who is somewhere between the two but also in his very own category all together.)

He gives me a slight smile that comes pretty damn close to reaching his eyes. "If you say so, Tris. Just don't... push yourself too much, okay?" He says sternly.

"I pinky promise I'll take it easy," I say very seriously while holding out my pinky.

He walks over to me in only two easy strides with his long legs, stopping about a foot away from me and holds out his pinky finger. I bring mine to lace with his, and as soon as it does, I feel the familiar electricity that I associate with Four swim through my body.

His face has been serious so far, but he cracks a smile, which makes me do the same, which makes him laugh, and I follow suit. Soon, we are done laughing, but both our pinky fingers still connected. We are just caressing each other's pinky while staring at each other.

I can't stop looking into his deep blue eyes. They are like none I have ever seen before, almost navy, like the ocean, but with a light blue splotch in the corner of his left iris.

I can feel him staring quite intensely at me too, but I can't imagine the things he is thinking about me. While he has the physique of a Greek god, I have the body of a twelve year old. I am too skinny from not eating and short. I know that am just simply unnatractive, but I also that Four is way too kind to tell me that. There is also a tiny part of me hoping against hope that he doesn't see me as an ugly little sister.

He snaps out of it first. After like five minutes of staring at each other with our pinkies still wrapped up, he gently, but quickly, pulls his hand away and looks to the floor. He rubs the back of his quickly reddening neck and glances back at me to offer me a shy (knee weakening) smile. I offer a grin of my own.

"Uh," he starts awkwardly, "I guess I'll go get ready. Are you sure you're okay to go. School isn't the best place in the world, and you have a pretty damn good excuse not to go, so if you don't want to or don't think you can, don't feel pressured to go." He sounds really concerned, in a completely endearing way.

"What, you don't think I can handle a few classes?" I ask teasingly.

He looks at me with wide eyes, and I have to contain a laugh. "No...of course not. I mean, yes. I know you can. You can handle anything. Uh..." This time I can't stop the laugh from escaping me.

"I was just kidding Four. I mean No Name," I say.

He narrows his eyebrows in confusion. "No Name?" he questions.

"Well, I can't call you Four, and I don't know your real name, so No Name it is for now."

"Just call me Hot Stuff," he states in a completely serious tone and with a straight face, except for the way his right eyebrow quirks up.

I am so surprised that he is joking with me like this. Who would have guessed?

"You give that time to catch on while I stick with No Name," I relpy jokingly while trying to hold in my laughter.

He gives me a grin and exits the room, but before he can get out of my line of vision, and before I can stop myself, I call out to him.

He instantly whips back around looking worried. "Yeah? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Quit worrying about me so much," I say and refrain from adding 'I'm not worth it.'

"I'll never quit worrying about you, Tris,"he says sincerely.

I roll my eyes at him jokingly but don't respond to his promise. I didn't have a question for him in the first place; I just, embarrasingly enough, wasn't ready for him to go and didn't even think about what would happen after I called his name for him to come back.

"Umm...nevermind," I say quickly, hoping he will leave it at that. There is no way in Hell I'm telling him that I only called him back because I didn't want him to go. I've sufficiently embarrassed myself enough in front of him already.

"You sure? Did you need something?" I almost smile, but stop myself, at the fact that he is so concerned for me. I am not used to it, but it's nice.

I shake my head in return. He starts slowly backing out of the doorway, still looking at me.

I smile at him and turn to get ready. I mentally prepare for school, or more specifically seeing everybody, while I am taking a shower. I didn't get a chance to see most of my friends that were waiting for me before visitation hours were over, so I will have to face them today, which is perfectly fine with me. At least they don't see me when I look like death.

I am worried about seeing the people that aren't my friends. The will surely be judgemental towards me if they know what has happened. At the very least, people will be wondering what happened to me to put me out of school for so long.

I push all of the thoughts from my head and focus on getting ready for school. I hop out of the shower, barely manage to wrap my healing wounds by myself, and start to get dressed.

I throw on some black skinny jeans, a loose dark blue shirt, and combat boots. I don't even bother fixing my hair; it will air dry into natural waves on the way to school. I look at the clock, and it says 7:20. Wow, getting ready took longer than I expected.

I walk to the kitchen to find Four, and when I get there, he is in there with Tori, helping her make what looks like lunches.

She smiles brightly when she sees me. "Good morning Tris. We left you a plate of pancakes and bacon. It's on the stove. Or we have granola bars, muffins, and apples." I look to the stove and there is a mini feast on it.

"Um... I usually don't eat breakfast," I say uncomfortably. "And I usually just eat an apple or something for lunch.

She looks at me with a worried expression for a second before she goes back to smiling, but I can still see a hint of concern in her eyes. "Nonsense. You won't have any energy if that is all you eat Tris." She closes up the lunch box she was putting food into and hands it to me. "I expect you to eat every bit of this. And something for breakfast," she says in an authoritive, yet motherly, tone.

It makes me ache for my own mother.

"Yes, ma'am," I mumble jokingly while grabbing a granola bar to eat for the breakfast that I am being forced to participate in. I also grab a couple peices of bacon, because let's face it, it's bacon.

"Ew! Don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel old," Tori says with her nose scrunched and a mock disgusted expression on her face.

"Yes, ma'am," I say while smiling, ignoring Tori's fake glare, before turning to Four who has been watching our interaction with an amused smirk on his face.

"Are you ready to leave?" I ask him, not actually wanting him to say yes. I want to postpone going back to the Land of People I Don't Want to See and Probably Don't Like. Or school, for short.

I don't even want to face my friends today. I don't want to deal with the looks of pity that they will surely give me. I don't want to deal with the questioning glances of kids that don't know what happened but noticed my absences from school. I don't want to deal with peple asking me how I am feeling, because I don't want to have to give them the real answer.

I do feel like a new person after baring my soul to Tori, Bud, and Four; I know that it was for the better. I'm glad that at least someone knows now and that the secrets I have been holding for years have finally been lifted off of my chest. I'm glad that it happened, but I'm still not happy with it, if that makes any sense.

Four snaps me from my thoughts with a short "Yes," and a quick smile. I nod my head in reluctant agreement and follow him out the door.

"Drive safe!" Tori shouts before the door closes.

"Yes ma'am!" I respond loudly before quickly shutting the door so that she can't get another word in.

I walk to the car as slow as humanly possible, but not because my wounds are aching, which they are, but because I am nervous about going back to school.

Four notices immediately and is by my side in an instant.

"What's wrong?"he asks urgently. "Is it your back?" His concern for me is foreign and unexpected.

I know my that my parents loved me, and I loved them more than life itself, but they thought it was intrusive to ask too many questions. They rarely knew if anything was wrong me unless I complained, which was rare.

Now Four's worried question are extremely surprising, but they are not at all unwelcome.

"My back is fine, nothing to worry about." And it is okay. While it hurts when I walk and I have to take extra care to not disturb the cuts on my side, chest, and back, since they are the worst, I am getting pretty good at dealing with pain; I can handle it. They are healing nicely. At least this time, they can fully heal without Peter digging his hands into them to rip them apart. I have to surpress a shiver at the thought of Peter.

"What about the rest of them?" He is looking me over with focused eyes as if he were a doctor checking for injuries.

"I'm okay. Just nervous about school." As it is coming out of my mouth, I am surprised at my honesty towards Four. It isn't natural for me to easily trust people, but Four has more than earned my full trust, and I know that I can tell him anything.

He furrows his eyebrows and appears thoughtful before he speaks again. "How about whenever you feel stressed or like you are about to explode, you text me. In class, between classes, during lunch. Whenever. I'll text back. Christina programmed my number in your phone a while ago without you knowing."

I am moved to speechlessness and near tears, but I hold them back. This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. He doesn't even realize how significant this is, that he would allow me to waste _his_ time to help me get through today at school. He somehow gets how I'm feeling and wants to help me.

"But...but it will distract you from your lessons. What if a teacher sees you and you get in trouble? You don't need to spend your time calming me down just because I can't handle being around people. What-"

The words of why he shouldn't do this spill out of my mouth, but the truth is, I _want_ to have someone to talk to about what I'm feeling, as pathetic as that sounds, because I've never really had that before. I want him to disagree with me even though me distacting him from his school work couldn't possibly benefit him in any way, and I know that it is selfish to want to agree to this.

"Tris," he says firmly, interrupting the flow of words jumping from my moith without my permission. "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't really want you to text me. It would be a pleasant distraction from a class that literally bores me to tears. Just...if it gets to be too much, or if you just feel like it; there doesn't have to be a reason for it. Don't worry about getting me in trouble; I'll be fine. I would do anything to help you, Tris."

I don't have any more words in me to respond to him, so I ignore the imaginary lines I am crossing by wrapping my arms around his waist tightly. He stiffens at first, almost making me pull back and start apologising profusely, but then I feel two strong arms wrap around my shoulders and pull me into his body.

The only thought in my mind is that I feel safe. No one has ever been able to make me feel secure with just a hug. It's amazing that one person, who I have only known for a short amount of time, can make me feel something so significate with only a simply touch.

I expect him to pull back in a few seconds and be awkward, but the only movement he makes is to press his lips to my forehead, right between my eyebrows. I close my eyes. I don't understand this, whatever it is. But I don't want to ruin it, so I say nothing. He doesn't move; he just stays there with his mouth pressed to my skin, and I stay there with my hands on his waist, for a long time.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guy! Here is chapter sixteen. I know it took a long time, but give me a break; I was on vacation for three of those weeks, so really, I only had a week to write this chapter. And it was a busy week for me.<strong>

I really like this chapter, and I really hope that ya'll do too. I hope this gave some of you the FourTris you were looking for, but if it didn't, don't worry; there will be plenty of FourTris coming soon enough.

**I want ya'll to understand how extremely touched I was by all of the supportive comments I got about the author's note in the last chapter. Some of you even offered to talk to me about what happened and help me through it. I did talk to a couple of you, but I want everyone that offered to know how thankful I am. You guys are amazing for wanting to help. Thanks for ya'll comments about me being strong; I'm not strong, just great at compartmentalizing. I will name all of you that commented on it and give a special thanks to those who offered to help me through it by talking to me. I can't even begin to explain how much your comments and offers mean to me.**

**If there is anything you would like to see happen in this story, feel free to leave a review. I love new ideas and finding ways to incorporate ya'll's ideas into this story. If you saw anything wrong or strange, don't hesitate to tell me. THAT DOESN'T MEAN REREAD THIS CHAPTER AND LOOK FOR MISTAKES THAT I MADE. I AM HUMAN, AND I AM A TEENAGER. I'M NOT A REAL AUTHOR, SO I DON'T HAVE COUNTLESS PEOPLE CHECKING AND CORRECTING MY SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. REMEMBER THAT! I am all for constuctive critisism, but don't be a douche.**

**I am thinking about writing another story after this one is finished (which won't be any time soon), so if you have a ideas about what I should write it about, please leave a review telling me, or you can pm me. I will give you credit for the idea if I use it.**

**If you don't want me to write another story because you don't think I am a good writer, you can tell me that too. Just let me down easy.**

**Anyways, until next time:)**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter** **Seventeen**

**Tris's** **point** **of** **view**

**Me:** Hey. Thought I might take you up on your offer.[Sent at 9:12 a.m]

It is only second period, and I am currently crying my eyes out in a small, dirty stall in the girl's bathroom.

**Four**: Tris? Are you okay? [Recieved at 9:13 a.m]

I contemplate his question for a few moments. Am I okay? The simple answer is no. When Four and I finally arrived at school, I was bombarded with questions from my friends and peers.

What happened? Am I okay? Why was I gone for so long? Why am I walking so stiffly? All of which I could not answer.

Christina, Marlene, Shauna, and Lynn all ran up to me as soon as I stepped out of Four's car. They hugged me until they heard my yelp of pain from them squeezing me too hard.

They each took turns giving me hugs, all of which I could barely feel since theywere so light. I could tell they meant well, but it made me feel weak.

I knew that they wanted to ask more questions, but, thankfully, they held back because, even though they haven't known me for long, they know that I value my privacy and am uncomfortable with answering other's prying questions.

After the girls forced me into a Girl's Night when I was feeling better, I was faced with Zeke and Uriah.

Uriah, being Uriah, acted like nothing had happened and was cracking jokes in no time. But Zeke was different. He didn't give me a careful hug, like I was made of glass and he was afraid to break me into millions of pieces, but instead, he pulled me in tight and didn't let go for a long time.

It hurt, but it was better than being treated like I was weak. Better than reminding me that I really _am_ weak.

We stayed locked together like that for several minutes, and just as I was about to pull back, he whispered in my ear, "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you, sis. It shouldn't have happened."

I went full-force back into the hug until I could blink away the tears that had made their appearance yet again today.

It hurt to be called sis again, Caleb used to call me that when he teased me, but it was so touching for Zeke to call me sis. That he thought of me as a sister.

I never thought I would have a family again, but in a merely a few weeks, I was adopted by Tori and Bud (or I will be when it is official), and Four is somehow my family, though I don't want him to be my brother for some reason that I can't even begin to think about. And now here my friends are, especially Zeke, giving me so much love and happiness.

I'm so grateful that I have them in my life.

When Zeke and I finally broke apart, the tardy bell was about ring, so we rushed to our lockers and got to our classes as quickly as possible.

I had to avoid the eyes of curious students that were sure to ask questions that I didn't want to answer.

I manage to avoid everyone until the end of first hour. The bell rang for second hour, and I was the last one out of the classroom so I could avoid being touched or spoken to.

It didn't work. As soon as I was out of the class, I saw Molly waiting by my locker, staring intently at me. It scared me shitless, because Molly is a beast, so I just turned away without the stuff for my next class to avoid confrontation with her. I could just tell the teachers that I forgot my stuff; surely, with everything that has happened, they would let me slide, just for today.

I didn't even get the chance to see if I would be in trouble or not because Molly apparently saw me turn around and followed me. Right before I was past the lockers, Molly suddenly used all of her body weight (which isn't small) to slam me into the corner of a locker, making the corner go right into a healing wound. I tried to hold it in, but a strangled yell made its way out of my throat anyways.

I knew the blood was already running, so I just ignored everything that happened and tried to push past her to get to the bathroom, but she wasn't having any of it.

She grabbed me by my hair and used my momentum to slam me into the locker again, never saying a word. She ignored my yelps of pain and my obvious struggle and just kept hurting me. The worst part is that I was in too much pain to do anything. I was helpless.

Just like always.

She never said anything about why she was doing it. In fact, she never said anything at all.

After an endless amount of time to me, but in reality, probably only less than five minutes, I somehow managed to free myself from her iron grip and run to the bathroom and slam myself into a stall before I broke down crying.

And that brings me to now, in this tiny bathroom stall that reeks of period and desperation.

**Me:** No... I'm bleeding. [Sent at 9:17a.m]

**Four:** What happened? Where are you? I'M COMING! [Received at 9:17 a:m]

Well, I didn't expect that. And suddenly, I'm afraid that this, texting him in the middle of his class, is a bad idea. I shouldn't be distracing him from what he needs to do. He shouldn't waste his time worrying about me; I'm really not worth it.

**Me: **No**,** it's not that bad, I just hit my back on a locker. It will stop bleeding soon. Get back to your work**.** [Sent at 9:19 a.m]

At least I didn't lie to him. I _did_ hit my back on a locker; I just left out the part that I was rammed into said locker, purposely, by Molly. What he doesn't know won't hurt him.

**Four:** Tris. Don't do this. Don't be too stubborn to accept help. It's only me here. Where are you? [Recieved at 9:20 a.m]

I can't just not tell him. It _is_ my fault for texting him and telling him that I'm bleeding. I didn't think of what would happen when I actually did text him. I just knew that simply talking to him would make fme feel better. Just like it always does. I didn't think he would actually come.

**Me:** I'm in the girl's bathroom. I'm really fine, so don't worry about coming. [Sent at 9:21 a.m.]

My back will eventually stop bleeding; the stitches weren't torn that badly. I'll live. I just had some strange and powerful urge that I needed to talk to him.

His text is immediate.

**Four:** I'm on my way. [Recieved at 9:21 a.m.]

And now he is coming to save me yet again. I'm such a distraction for him. His school work, his social life, his home life. Maybe it would be better if I just... disappeared. He doesn't need this; I'm sure it was a hard life that put him in foster care, and he doesn't need me holding him back from a normal life.

But at the same time... I want him with me. I want him to think of me not as a distraction, but as someone that he enjoys spending his time with. It's probably too much to ask though.

Before I can think too much more, I hear the door entering the bathroom swing open, very forcefully judging by the way I heard it slam against the wall. And then I hear Four say, "Tris?" His voice sounds panicked.

I stay silent, biting my lip hard to hold in my sobs. Maybe if I don't answer he will just go back to class, where he should be; where he was before I was selfish and wanted him here.

"Tris, I know you're in here. You _just_ texted me. Don't be silly; just let me help you. I _want_ to,"he says convincingly, but even though I can't hear it in his voice, I'm sure that he isn't being truthful. Why would he _want_ to comfort an unpredictable, sobbing girl who can't even get herself together enough to go to three class periods?

"I'm in here," I say reluctantly. I really don't want to get him sucked into this, but I know that he isn't going to leave without seeing me.

I hear his signature light and careful footsteps come to a stop right in front of the stall that I am currently residing in, and then I hear his rhythmic knocking on my stall door. I had forgotten it was locked.

I slowly rise to my feet, but wait for a few more seconds, hopelessly praying for him to leave so that he won't get involved, but I know it's useless. I know that, for whatever reason, he has become protective of me and he won't leave until he knows I am alright.

Might be a while.

Without another thought, I unlock the door and squeeze my eyes shut; I don't want to see the anger or pity in his eyes. Anger for getting him out of class for no good reason or pity because I'm hurt.

But I'm thrown for a loop when I feel large hands cup my face. They are warm and rough and comforting, but most of all unexpected. I don't open my eyes, but I take a risk and slide my small, cold hands on top of his and give them a gentle squeeze.

I'm thrown again when I feel his warm, plump lips come to rest in the middle of my forehead, just as they did this morning. The feelings are the same as they were this morning, only intensified.

I feel safe, and that is the most anyone could ever do for me. And he did it. Four makes me feel safe.

I don't feel like I'm worthless when I'm with him.

I don't mean for them to, but a few tears slip out of the corners of my eyes. Before I can move my hands to discretely wipe them away, Four gingerly brings his thumbs to wipe them away for me while he whispers, "Why are you crying?"

I want to laugh at the absurdity of the question. Almost anyone would think I was crying from the pain of my opened wound after I texted them that I was bleeding, but somehow, Four knows that my pain isn't the reason for my tears. He has come to know me too well for that.

The reason I'm crying is because of the foreign safety I feel right now, something I thought I would never feel again. I'm crying because I feel, for the first time in a really long time, like I am important. "I'm just glad you're here,"I whisper honestly, not trusting my voice not to break.

I feel him let out a light smile against my skin, and it is enough to send shivers down my spine. I hope that he doesn't notice, but of course, being ever-observant, immediately does.

"Are you cold?" His voice is full of concern.

I shake my head against his lips and have to hold in another shiver at the feel of the friction between his lips and my forehead. Just this simply act has me this way.

All too soon, Four backs up to look at me, but he doesn't take his hands away from my face, for which I'm thankful.

"What happened, Tris? I need to see your back this instant. Do you have any extra wrap?" His words come out in a rush of worry.

"Um... yeah, I do. It's in my locker; Tori insisted I bring it, just in case. Guess she was on to something there."

He gives me a quick nod and, much to my chagrin, slowly removes his hands and takes a step back. "I'll be right back."

Before I can even stop him to tell him where my locker is, he is out tbe door, walking in the direction of the lockers.

I smile to myself and patiently wait for him to come back and ask where my locker is, but it doesn't happen. He comes back a minute later with the wrap in his hand and a triumphant grin on his face.

"How did you know where my locker was?"

His triumphant grin turns shy in an instant. "Lucky guess?"

I give a light laugh and shake my head, but I can't help but to still feel curious. I'll let it go for now.

It's strange how I can go from crying to smiling in mere minutes just because of Four being here with me.

He comes to a stop in front of me, and all of the sudden, he looks nervous. "What is it?" I ask.

"Erm... I'm going to need you to let me see the bleeding. I have to wrap it back and...you know... doctor it,"he says while scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably.

_Oh._

It makes me uncomfortable to lift my shirt in front of Four, and not only because of what _just_ happened with Peter, but also because Four is so much more physically attractive than me. It's a dumb thing to be thinking at a time like this, but I can't help it: I'm embarrased of my body. I haven't exactly been taking care of it, especially not lately. I'm sure you can see my bones, and worse, the scars, which are only signs of my weakness.

I take a deep breath and throw my insecurities into the back of my head. Now is not the time. I slowly turn around to face away from him and raise my shirt to reveal my scarred back.

I hear a sharp intake of breath enter his mouth and fight off tears. He is probably disgusted with me.

"What are you talking about, Tris? I could _never_ be disgusted with you. Why would you think that?" His voice is adamant, but I can hear the hurt peaking out.

Shit. I hadn't realized that I said it out loud. I didn't mean to.

"My back is just disgusting. I let him do this to me; I wasn't strong enough to stop him. I would understand if you were disgusted by me."

I chance a look at his face and am ashamed of myself when I see the sorrow on his face.

Four's pov

She carefully lifts her shirt to expose he bloody and scarred back.

"My back is disgusting; I wasn't strong enough to stop him. I would understand if you were disgusted by me," I can't mistake the pain and acceptance in her voice. She actually believes that she is weak because of her back. She doesn't understand that her back is a symbol of her strength.

I can't bear to think of what she would say about my similarly scarred back. She isn't weak, but I am. I let my father abuse me for years, almost my entire childhood; he still manages to make his way into my life through my nightmares. I wake up sweating and screaming from nightmares about him, and I hate that even though he's gone, he still has poewer over me. But Tris is strong because of the fact that she had enough strength to get away from him and move on. I'm the disgusting one, not her. Never her.

"You don't even see how beautiful and strong you are Tris. You survived. Do you not see how amazing that is? Most people would have given up by now. Most people would have given up as soon as the abuse started, but you didn't. You made it, and you have a family that loves you and friends that love you. You made a better life for yourself in spite of everything that has happened to you," I say forcefully, but not unkindly. I need to convince her of herself. Of how _much_ she is.

She can't possibly think so lowly of herself. Not when there are so many people that think so highly of her, especially me. I don't know exactly how I feel about her, but I know that I admire her strength and selflessness. I know that I don't want to be her brother. I know that as soon as I get home tonight, I'm asking Tori to cancel my adoption so that I won't have to be related to Tris and limit everything we could have. Tori won't care; she'll just most likely give me a knowing smile and say 'I knew it.' I have to do it. I know that I want to be _more. More_ than a brother. _More_ than a friend.

She just shakes her head at me. I sigh and return my attention to her freely bleeding back. I take in a breathe to gather myself and grab a wet paper towel to gingerly dab at her back to at least get most, if not all of the blood off. Some of it is dried already, but there is still a lot of fresh blood to get off. I expect her to cry out or something, but I am surprised when she only lets out a curse word and holds her breathe.

"Sorry," I say quietly. I hate causing her pain; she's had more than enough to last a n entire lifetime.

"Why are you apologizing? You're basically saving my butt here. I can't wrap my back myself," she tries to say jokingly, but it comes out as strained.

I've finished cleaning the blood off now. I got as much as I could off, which is almost all of it. I would have to press harder to get the bits of dried blood that are inside the wounds, and I can't bring myself to cause her any more hurt.

It makes me sick that someone would do this to her. No one deserves it, but certainly not her.

"That bastard should be shot," I say strongly while I get started wrapping her back.

To my surprise, she lets out a full-blown laugh. Her body shakes with the quick breathes, and the noise is music to my ears. "I agree," she says in an amused, but slightly serious, tone. "But not by you,"she adds.

"That doesn't stop me from entertaining the idea," I say, still half serious.

I would never kill anybody; it would make me feel too much like _him,_ the moster that destroyed my childhood, but I still think he should be shot.

I've finished wrapping her back, a technique I have come to perfect over the years of living with Marcus. She slowly pulls down her shirt and turns back around to face me.

She slowly bends her back just a little bit to test the wrapping job I've done, and she isn't disappointed. She actually looks surprised. "How did you learn to do that? It's way better than anything I could have done." Her question is innocent, but it is difficult to answer. I don't want to lie, but I can't tell her the truth either.

"I've had a lot of practice," I answer carefully.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you ask me that because you think I'll actaully answer?"

"Why do you say vague things if you don't want be asked about them?"

"You're pretty sassy, Prior," I say jokingly, but mostly to avoid the subject.

"So I've been told," she replies with a grin. "And somewhere around the time you learned to be a professional back wrapper, did you also pick up the talent of expert question avoidance?" She still has a smile on her face, but I can see the underlying seriousness. She really wants to know my answer.

I should have known that attempting to change the subject wouldn't work with her. I'm tired of lying to her, and I can't help but want to be honest with her. So for the first time in a really long time, I give an almost- answer.

"I used to get hurt a lot as a kid; I learned to doctor myself," I don't have to tell her the full extent of it, but I do feel better not totally lying to her.

She must see the expression on my face, because she doesn't push it any farther, and for that I am grateful.

"Well I guess it came in handy today. Thanks for wrapping my back. And wasting your class period to come help me; you really didn't have to," she says.

But how could she say that? That I am wasting my time by being here with her and helping her when she is hurt and can't fix it herself? She just doesn't get how much people care for her. How much _I_ care for her.

"Tris, you are worth a lot to me," I say forcefully, but still gently. She doesn't get it. "You don't understand that I would do anything for you. Skipping class is the least of my worries. It's _you_ I'm worried about. You don't know how fast my hand shot up when I got your text that you were bleeding. I didn't even think twice about coming, because I hate the thought of you being in pain. I hate that you are in here because of what that asshole did to you, and I hate everything that has happened to you. It shouldn't have happened and you won't have to get through it alone. I'll be here. I. Will. Always. Be. Here."

And all the sudden, her lips are on mine, and I can't seem to form a coherent thought. Because Tris Prior is kissing me,and I'm kissing back, and it's amazing, no matter how chaste it is. It's unexpected, but not unwelcome. It's better than I ever could have dreamed of. Her lips are softer and warmer than I could have imagined, but still chapped at the same time. I move to put my hands on her waist, and her small hands move to tangle themselves in my hair.

But then it's over. Tris is looking at me with this crazed, panicked expression, and then she's running out the door, and I'm too dazed to follow her. All I can process is the fact that she kissed me and that she said 'I'm sorry.' Before walking out.

I'm not. I'm not sorry at all, unless she didn't want it. But I have a feeling that she did.

All I know is that there is absolutely no way I can stay away from her now. I'll have to move at her pace, but I am done distancing myself from her.

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><p><strong>So<strong> **guys, without further ado, here is chapter seventeen. I know that my updates don't come very quickly, but I really appreciate ya'll staying with me even during the three weeks or month that I don't update. I know that these are just excuses, but I do happen to have a life. I have band practice three tines a week and tons of homework on top of that. Sometimes I stay up until 3 in the morning just to get my homework done. I barely have time for sleep, so I don't really have very much time to write, as much as it pains me to say. I also have a lot of family things going on, so my schedule is always pretty packed full of action.**

**Thank ya'll for taking time out of the day to read my story, and even reading the author's note at the bottoem that goes with it. When I first started reading fanfic, I never did, but now that I write it, I'm glad that people actually do read mine.**

**So this chapter isn't really that long, BUT TRIS AND FOUR KISS! SO YOU ARE WELCOME:) I'm trying not to move too fast with them, but please tell me if I am. I hate stories that move too fast, so it would be great if someone told me that I was.**

**If there is anything you want to see in this story, I WANT TO KNOW! I can't promise to use the ideas, but they will get the gears in my head turning, so please, any ideas are welcomed with open arms.**

I'm still thinking of writing another fanfic, so if there is anything ya'll want to see in another story from me, please feel free to let me know. It doesn't even have to be the Divergent fandom, even though I thrive in The Divergent and The Hunger Games fandoms, I am open to trying anything. Let me know what fandom you want. Chances are, I have read the book.

If you want me to stay loyal on the Divergent fandom(which I am leaning towards), let me know that too.

**I know I said that I would give my thanks to those that offered to talk to me about what happened in this chapter, but there are still a few amazing people that offer, so I will have to wait until the next chapter. You guys are amazing, and I can't even begin to that ya'll enough.**

**Dear Paige, your review literally had me in tears, which only one other review(out of almost 300) has ever done before. So thank you for making my day, and possibly even my life:) I always love your reviews.**

**AND SPEAKING OF ALMOST 300 REVIEWS, I HAVE ALMOST 300 REVIEWS FROM YOU GUYS ON THIS STORY! (298 at the moment, to be exact) I can't believe the responses I've gotten on this story. It's sooo much more than what I expected when I first started out. So thank ya'll for being a huge part of the reason I write:)**

**By the time I am posting my next chapter, I want 350 reviews! It's just a goal;I won't actually not update if I don't get 350 reviews, but it would be really nice.**

**If you are reading this, please leave a review, no matter if you have a username or are a guest. Anything that ya'll have to say, good or bad, makes me happy. I love reading reviews. Every time I see that I have a new one, I click on it with lightning speed.**

**Anyways, until next time.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:)**

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><p><strong>I<strong>

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><p><strong>JUST<strong>

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><p><strong>LOVE<strong>

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><p><strong>THESE<strong>

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><p><strong>PAGEBREAK<strong>

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><p><strong>THINGS!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

Hey, guy! I was thinking the other day that I've never claimed to be not Veronica Roth, the amazing and irreplacable writer of Divergent. So here all of you were thinking I was the real author! Anyways, just to clear this up, I am not the writer of the Divergent series nor do I own it. I wish I could, but I'm only fourteen. So now that we have that cleared up, without further ado, please continue on to the latest chapter ,chapter eighteen, of Make it Stop. Sorry it took so long to update, but ENJOY!

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Tris' point of view**

What did I just do? What have I done? For one, I just ruined my friendship with Four. And everything else with Four. Whatever we had, whatever was possible, at least for me, is completely unthinkable now, just because I had to go and screw up, like always.

He's never going to be the same around me again, and it's absolutely, without a doubt, all my fault.

How could I have been so stupid?

Yes, despite everything that _just_ happened with Peter and the recent reminder of what happened with Eric feom th intervention Tori, Bud, and Four put me through, I wanted to kiss Four. Never did I think I would ever want anything like that to happen, but Four opens up so many possibilities. Well, not so much anymore.

I'm currently walking down the sidewalk, in the middle of nowhere. The road is gravel, a rarity in Chicago that tells me that I am not going to be found by anyone, jist how I want it. There are not even any road signs which is almost impossible to find in Chicago.

Four might have tried to follow me, probably to tell me how repulsive I am and how undesirable I am to him and everyone else and how he wanted to puke after I kissed him. And sooner or later, I'll have to stop moping and return home. I choose later.

A quick look at my phone tells me it is 6:37. Oh, shit! I ran out of school during second hour, so it must have been around 9:00. I've been gone for over nine and a half hours! How the hell am I going to explain this to Tori and Bud? 'Sorry, I tried to kiss my soon-to-be adoptive brother, and then I freaked out and ran, and then I somehow ended up on a road that screams 'come murder the teenage girl walking' nine hours after I left the school I was supposed to be at?' I'm sure that will work just divinely.

I decide that maybe I should start heading home before it gets dark, so I turn and start walking towards the way I came, but when I come to a slightly better built road that I vaguely recall, I don't know whether to turn left or right. I decide that turning right might take me back the way I came after a quick game of eenie meenie minie moe. While I'm quickly walking, I try to see if anything looks familiar to me. Nothing does, but I don't think anything since I wasn't exactly paying attention when I came through. Soon enough, (and by soon enough, I mean an hour later) I end up in this little town looking place. It's really cute, filled with shops and scattered with people here and there, but I've never seen it before; I would have rememberd something like this.

I'm so lost.

It isn't like I'm going to be able to find my own way home, so I do the unthinkable. Call Four for help. It is either him or Tori, and I don't even want to think about how mad she is at me right now.

When I start to find his number, I see that I have 93 missed calls from Four, 76 missed calls from Tori, 68 missed calls from Bud, and many other missed calls from ther numbers. How did I miss that? My phone never rang. One look at the screen tells me it's on silent. Of course. Stupid me.

I'm still very lost, and Four was trying to call anyways, so I can only hope that he picks up. I dial his number and let the phone ring. Barely half a ring is finished when he picks up the phone. "Tris? Where are you? Are you okay?" His voice is frantic and worried, and I feel awful for doing that to him.

"I'm fine. Ummm...just kind of lost,"I say in a rushed whisper. There are tears in my eyes from hearing his voice and how worried I made him, how it proves that he doesn't not care about me, but I ignore them.

"Do you see any signs? What do you see, Tris?" I hear keys jingle and a door close, so he must be coming to rescue me, yet again.

"Uh, it's a little town. The closest shop is 'Rosa's boutique.' I don't see any street signs." I say while taking a few more steps to try and see something tbat might help him find me. "Wait, I see an intersection. The signs say Washington avenue and Oak Hill street. If that helps any." It probably won't, but it's the best I can do.

"I actually know exactly where you are. I'm on my way right now. Don't move, just stand by that intersection, and I'll be there in ten minutes, tops." He hangs up, but not before I hear his tires squeal. Probably less than ten minutes.

I'm stuck in my own head when Four's car comes to a sudden stop beside me not even five minutes later. Either I was closer to the house than I thought or he was driving at 200 miles an hour the entire way here. Something tells me it is the second option.

I don't even have time to apologize before he is running out of the car to stand beside me. He takes my arms in his hands and turns them around, checking for injuries, I guess. His eyes do a quick once-over of me, and I can't help but blush. When he seems satisfied that my legs are still on my body and that I'm not gushing blood, he does the unexpected and pulls me into a bone-crushing hug.

What?

Shouldn't he be mad at me for kissing him, running out afterwards, and making him come get me from the middle of nowhere when he most likely had something better to do than to be my personal driver slash bodyguard.

Even though I am confused, I take advantage of the situation and reciprocate whole heartedly. Opportunities like this don't come very often, and they probably won't again, especially after what happened earlier today.

"Don't ever do that again, Tris. Do you know how worried we were? Everyone is looking for you. You didn't answer your phone, and you didn't call. Tori and Bud won't stop pacing; Zeke checked the police station, and Christina checked the hospitals, and you weren't there. We thought you were dead in an alleyway somewhere! Please don't ever run away like that again." He says all of it into the hug, and his words are muffled by my shoulder where his head is resting.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be gone for so long, and my phone was on silent; I totally forgot about it. And by the time I checked my phone, it was already after 6:30, and I was on this deserted road, so I tried to find my way home but ended up here. I'm so sorry, Four." I am such a fuck up. This is what I do. I cause people to waste their time on someone that isn't worth it in the first place.

"Let's just get you home. We need to get some food in you too. How did you get here from school? It's almost 20 miles,"he states incredulously.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Because he shouldn't. I'm not worth his time, and all I do is distract him or cause him distress.

"How could you even say that, Tris? You were gone we thought were dead. _I _thought you were dead. I don't know where you got the crazy thought in your head that you were worth nothing, but you're being delusional, and you're _wrong._ You are worth so much to me, and I can't handle the fact that you force yourself to believe otherwise. Someone so amazing shouldn't be trying so hard to be invisible, Tris. I just don't understand why you view yourself like you do,"he says with tears in his eyes, and I'm caught completely off guard.

No one has ever said anything like that about me, and no matter how much I don't believe it, the fact that he has so much faith in me, that he sees some kind of potential in me, that he sees something in me that nobody else does is enough to bring tears to my eyes. I'm barely holding them in, but I don't want to look like a weak loser in front of Four.

There is nothing I can do but disagree with him, but surely, he will have none of that, so I simply shake my head in hopes that he doesn't comment on it.

He doesn't, but he shakes his head and sighs in return. "Let's get you home," he finally says.

I don't protest when he pulls open the car door for me to get in, nor do I say anything when he shuts it for me.

We start to drive off, and after a few minutes, Four is the one to break the comfortable silence that we had going between us.

"Look, I know that you probably don't want to talk about this," he starts, and I immediately get a bad feeling in my stomach, knowing that he is going to bring it up. He is going to bring up the kiss. "But why did you run away afterwards?"

"What do you mean 'why did you run away?' I was totally out of line, and I'm really sorry that I did that to you. We should just forget about it because I know that you are probably mad about it, so just leave it alone, pretty please," I plead, not caring how much of a little kid I sound like.

I am so incredibly embarrassed about what I did. I mean, how could some Greek god like him like someone like me: the short, skinny, curveless girl who is traumatized from her past.

"Tris, what are you talking about? You weren't out of line, and you definately shouldn't be sorry that you did it. I know that I'm not," he says without hesitation.

"But, I mean...I'm not...erm...like," I'm out of words, so I just make a motion with my hands sweeping over my body, hoping that he gets the point that I'm not nearly deserving of him.

It isn't like I just think I'm not worthy of him because of the differences of our appearances, but also of our personalities. He is the kind of person that drops everything to save me all the time. Bringing me to the hospital; wrapping my back this morning; and right now, saving me from being kidnapped and murdered in some place completely unknown to me because I was stupid enough to run off after being stupid enough to kiss him. Hell, he even let me cry on him in the library when I first got here even though he didn't know a thing about me.

"Tris, you just don't get it, do you? Anybody, including me, would be lucky to get a chance to kiss you. I _am_ lucky to have gotten to kiss you, and I would never take it back. It was a perfect first kiss,"he says shyly while looking straight ahead, not even chancing a look at me.

No. Fucking. Way.

HIS FIRST KISS? This, as I stated before, Greek god has never been kissed? How is that even possible? He is, without a doubt, the most attractive human being I have ever seen, and he has an amazing personality: kindness,and shyness, and mysteriousness all mixed into one perfect guy. Four is practically the official definition of hot, and he hasn't ever been kissed? THIS IS BLASPHEMY!

Except I'm kind of happy about it, because I had always sort of assumed that Four had had no shortage of girls lining up to get with him, and I never looked down on him because of it; it was just a fact of life to me, but he is proving me wrong: that he isn't just some normal teenaged, hormonal boy that goes out with girls left and right.

"That was your first kiss? It was awful for you, wasn't it?" I'm sure it was. I stole it away from him just like I had Eric do to me, and that is the worst thing that I could have ever done. Stolen away something that was Four's and was probably very important to him if he kept it for this long. And it was probably horrible anyways since I've never actually willingly kissed a boy before today, and I have absolutely zero experience other than squeezing my eyes shut and praying for it to be over.

"Stop it, Tris. I can see the wheels turning inside of your head and no, you didn't steal it from me, I gave it to you. Do you honestly think that I would have kissed you back if I didn't want to? And to answer your other worry, no. Didn't you hear me just now? It was the very best first I could have ever imagined, and I really hope that you don't feel guilty about it, because I sure as hell don't," he says forcefully, trying to make me understand, but I just can't.

There is no way Four could ever like me; he is simply being kind like he always is, trying to spare my feelings because that is the kind of person Four is.

We are pulling up to the house now, so thankfully, I am saved from answering anything else and him falsely saying sweet things about me to make me feel better.

Before we get out of his car, Four grabs my arm to stop me from getting out just yet and says,"Be careful going in there. Tori has been worried sick about you. I actually think she was the worst off, behind me, of course. She is going to get mad at you, but she isn't actually mad. She just cares, so try not to get too irratated with her."

I nod my head in thanks for the advice.

I walk inside and am greeted by an anxiously pacing Tori and a concerned looking Bud.

I am barely through the door by the time Tori is givng me a too tight hug and bombarding me with questions. "Where were you? Are you hurt? Do you have any idea how worried we were about you? Did you even _think_ to answer your phone because we all thought that you were _dead?_ Are you hurt? Any bruises? Nobody tried to hurt you? You can't just run off in Chicago, of all places, Tris." She sounds like a mom, and that's exactly what I need right now.

"I'm really sorry, Tori. I didn't mean to cause you so much worry, and my phone didn't ring, and I didn't keep track of time. I just got lost, and luckily Four has studied his Chicago road signs so he could get me. I know that it was a stupid thing to do, and it won't happen again, I swear," I say, because I mean it. It won't happen again because I won't let myself get close to Four, and I won't let myself do something so stupid like kissing him.

Tori looks taken aback by what I said, and how genuinely sorry I am, so she simply nods her head and moves to the side so that I can go to my room, which I do without protest. My room is actually a welcome place to me.

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><p>After a few hours in my room and a very needed shower, I decide that it is time to go to sleep since it's already after 11:00. My eyes droop as soon as my head hits the pillow, and soon, I greet sleep with open arms as I drift into a dreamless sleep.<p>

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><p>I wake up and look at the clock. 2:16 a.m. What woke me up? I couldn't have had a nightmare because my heart isn't racing like every other time I have had one. My eyes start to shut on their own accord, and I lie back down into bed to tey and go back to sleep.<p>

And then I hear it. Four's tormented screams.

I am instantly filled with panic. What if someone is hurting and torturing him right now? I'm caught between fight or flight defense; should I stay in here, hiding to protect myself like my insticts tell me, or should I go try to at least help Four in any way I can?

My whole body is trembling and my heart is beating out of my chest. I can't move. I just stand there, frozen with dread and on the verge of hyperventilating.

I can't think. But really, there is no thinking involved here. I can't leave Four to save himself considering how many times he has saved me, and the mere thought of him in pain is enough to shake me out of my motionless state.

"No, no...stop! Please...no. Get away... Help! Get away," Four's pleading and fearful voice calls out, sending chills down my spine. The saness and desperation in his voice is palpable. I can tell that he is in tears or next to it.

Then he lets out such a mournful, helpless cry that I spring into action. I can't continue to let him get hurt. It just isn't right, and I am done with sitting in my room like a coward.

I decide to look around the room to find something to defend myself and Four with, and I come up with an extra hanging rod that was in my closet for hanging clothes. This should suffice. I then muster every bit of daring I have in me to exit my room and creep down the hall to Four's room.

The closer I get, the louder his pained and sorrowful cries get, and no matter how hard I strain my ears, I can't seem to here another voice mingle with his.

Who is it, and what are they doing to him? My mind is racing with every possible horror imaginable.

The shadows cast on the floor and walls make everything much more foreboding-especially with Four's haunting voice cutting through the dark, still silence of the night.

I hold my breathe, feeling my shake with adrenaline as I gather the courage I need to go into Four's room.

I hear him holler out again, as if in pain, and instantly all of my nervousness moves off to the side. If I'm going to help him, it has to be sooner rather than later. I can't chicken out now; I have to be brave.

I finally open the door and look at him...

And he is completely and utterly alone.

"No...please. Stop it! Ouch, please don'y do this...no! Stop!" It is Four's pained voice coming out of his mouth, but there is no one else in the room with him. No one is hurting him.

Four is only having a nightmare. Relief fills me, but so does sadness. He has nightmares, just like me, and they look pretty bad, like something horrifying has happened to him.

Just as I am about to step towards him to wake him up, he turns his bare back towards me so that I can see it clearly and perfectly.

And it is covered with scars.

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><p><strong>Welcome back, y'all! Here is chapter eighteen of Make it Stop, and I really hope that you enjoyed it. Really sorry it took so long to update it (like over a month long) but this week in particular was really difficult due to a tragedy at school, so I really appreciate y'all's patience and loyalty to either me or this story. Either one is fine. This is a pretty fricken long chapter, (not actually too terribly long, but whatever) and I love those, so kudos to myself.<strong>

**So I got a little deep in there, but this story really needed that, I think, so I'm happy with it. **

**Sorry I left y'all with such a cliffhanger, but that's just the mean person I am:)**

If you have a prediction of what happens next or what should happen next, I would love to know. I always love everything you guys say, so I'm open to anything.

**As always, if you ever have any suggestions, I'm open. A few large chunks of my story are based on suggestions, so I do actually use them, if you were wondering.**

**If you see any misspelled words or dislike my writing style, you can say so, just let me down easy. I don't deal with douchepants.**

**Read on and stay classy:) **

**Ty:)**


	19. Chapter 19

Hey! I will leave an author's note at he end, just like every time, but this is to warn you that this chapter is pretty disturbing. Just for a little part of it. No rated M stuff, but a different type of disturbing. It was pretty hard to write, but I felt like I had to.

**Once again, for the whopping second time, I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THE DIVERGENT STORIES! Not the ideas, the characters, or ANYTHING! I mean, of course I wish that I were Veronica Roth sometimes, but I am not!**

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Tris's Point of View**

Four is only having a nightmare. Relief fills me, but so does sadnes simultaneously. He has nightmares, just like me, and they look pretty bad, like something horrifying has happened to him.

Just as I am about to step towards him to wake him up, he turns his bare back toward me so that I can see ot clearly and perfectly.

And it is covered with scars.

"No. NO! Stop! Please!...please. I'm sorry..." He starts to beg passionately, his hoarse voice coming out with a hint of a cry behind it. I watch as he kicks dead air and punches aimlessly out in front of him with tightly balled fists as if to keep something, or someone, horrible away.

I am frozen to the ground with absolutely no clue as to what I should do, of what direction I should walk. In front of me is this amazing person that has saved my life numerous times, so shouldn't I at least be able to retrieve him from a nightmare? But behind me is Four's bedroom door, the one which I came through in. The one that I can also exit out of, which is what I should probably do.

I could just quietly back away without stirring him out of his nightmare, but it would save both of us from embarrassment. He doesn't need to know that I saw the scars that cover his back as heavily as snow covers the ground after a two month long blizzard even though all that I want to do is run to him and comfort him. I want to know what his scars are from, and I want to make all of his pain go away. I want to cry on them and make them disappear like Disney princesses do in all of their movies, but I know from my own experience that isn't how it happens. Nothing can make the pain go away . It never will; it will only dull and fade until it is not the only thing on your mind anymore.

He starts to whimper, and I just can't take it anymore.

Without another single thought, I make a move towards him and sit on the space beside him on the large bed. In this position, I am looking straight at his face, and I can see that his jaw muscles are tensing and untensing. His arms are by his sides, but they are still balled. All of the muscles in my view on his body are tensed, pulled as tight as wires to protect himself from any enemy that comes his way. He starts to mumble incoherently, but I can still hear the misery and pain in his voice.

Before he can get out another word, I put my hands flat on his solid, warm chest and start to shake him awake. I mean...after I get over the euphoric feeling of my hands on his Greek god chest.

"Ah!...no...stop!" He begins to thrash about wildly, his arms swinging dangerously close to my face. My shaking him is only scaring him even more than he already is with the nightmare, but I can't think of another way to get him out of this mental torture. I shake him again, but just to get the same reaction, only intensified.

A thought of throwing water on him crosses my mind, but only fleetingly. I can't leave him here alone. I'm sure he would be okay, but I just can't do that.

Shaking him isn't working, and pouring water on him was out of the question before it was even in it. Before I can even process another single thought, my lips are touching his. Not in a sexual way, but just because it is instinct, and I am all out of other options.

Instantly, there is a change in his disposition. His arms quit their flailing, and his jaw is no longer clenching and unclenching.

Just as I am feeling relieved that he is okay, and he is either going to wake up or his nightmare is gone, his hands leave his sides to slam into my chest, knocking me to the ground as well as the air out of my lungs.

I guess there was a third option, and this is it.

I start coughing and weezing, loudly, apparently, because Four is by my side in an instant. He takes a hold of me and presses me to his chest, and the feeling almost overpowers the feeling of being out of breathe.

"Oh my God, Tris! Are you okay? What happened?" His voice is panicked, and behind thag, I can hear the sleepiness still present in his tone.

"I'm fine," I force out while still coughing. "Just a little out of breath."

"Not that I hate it, but why are you on the floor of my bedroom in the middle of the night? And why are you out of breath" He sounds confused, which confuses me in return.

"You mean you don't remember?" My eyebrow are currently shot up to the top of my head by now, I'm sure.

"Remember what?"

This is too weird.

"You were having a horrible nightmare. You were thrashing around, and I couldn't wake you up."

He hangs his head in what looks like shame. "Sorry."

What? How could he think this is his fault. Something caused the nightmare, or nightmares, by the looks of it. "What are you sorry for? It is _not_ your fault that you had a nightmare. It isn't like you chose it."

"I know. I just...didn't want you to see it." He won't even look at me;his face is pointed straight at the ground.

"How often do you have them? Are they always this bad?" I would never go to sleep if they were always this bad. I've screamed, but I usually wake myself up.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. I have them too," I admit.

He just shakes his head to himself, but before I can comment on it, he is asking another question. "That doesn't explain why you are on the ground, breathing like you just ran a marathon."

"Oh...um...I had to wake you up. And I guess you got freaked out, and you pushed me off. It's no big deal; it didn't hurt."

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Tris," his reply is immediate. "You should have just stayed away. Why didn't you just ignore me?"

_What kind of question is that? _"What do you mean 'why didn't you ignore me?' You were making noises like you were in pain! I thought someone was in here hurting you! I can't ignore something like that," I tell him seriously.

"You thought someone was hurting me?" His voice is on of pure awe. I don't know why; it's no big deal. I nod my head as my only response. He shakes his head again. I don't get the significance of it.

"You could have been hurt, but you completely disregarded that, left the safety of your room, and came to save me."

"Four, do you know how many times you have saved my life? You gave up a lot for me, made plenty of sacrifices, and did you really think that I wouldn't try to help, after everything you have done for me?"

"You put yourself in danger, Tris,"his voice is urgent, but I have no idea why.

"But I was never in any danger. You were having a bad dream. There is no way for that to be harmful. I'm fine,"I respond strongly.

"Just promise me that you will never put yourself in danger for me again. What if there _had_ been a killer in here? You could have been really hurt,"he looks distraught about this.

"How are you feeling?" He and I both know that his demand of my promise is being avoided, and I expect him to call me out on it, but he doesn't, only glaring at me in warning.

"I'm fine. It's not anything new. My heart's pumping a little harder than usual, but that's about as exciting as it gets,"he says while looking to the floor.

That wasn't what I meant, and he knows it. I want to know if he is alright emotionally, but apparently, I'm not going to get that out of him.

"Well, I guess I'll just go back to bed, then,"I say while slowly walking away, before it can get awkward between us. I really don't want to leave him just yet, but I'm probably not a very welcome guest.

Just as I am about to reach his door, I hear him say, "Wait," in a gravelly voice, and it makes me stop in my tracks and turn around to fully face him.

I'm pretty positive that I know what he is about to ask.

At least I reallybhope I know what it is he is about to ask.

He ducks his head to look at the ground once again, and even in the darkness of his room, I can still see the red blush spreading from the tips of his ears to his miscled neck. can't help but to find it endearing. And attractive...

"Will you...um...stay with me?" And DING DING DING! I was right. "Not like, you know, do anything. Just sleep in the same bed. I can't usually go back to sleep after my nightmares, and I thought maybe this might help." His voice is shaking nervously,and my insides are doing the same. I didn't think about what would happen _after_ he asked me. Now, I am just as nervous as he is. It isn't because I don't trust him, because I do, with my life. It is just the fact that this is _Four._ I know that we could never turn into something because I am nowhere near worthy of him. I shouldn't be thinking like this anyways. He just had a nightmare, and he's probably scared even though I know he would never dare admit it.

But this will be torture. Being so near to him but not being able to dream of a future with him because of the fact that a relationship with him is completely unattainable.

In spite of that, I still say,"of course."

He gets up off the floor and starts to make his way to his bed. When he reaches it, he turns towards me and looks at me expectantly.

Oh. Now is the time. My mouth is dry and my palms are sweating, but I somehow force my legs to take steps, albeit slow and unsteady, towards Four.

He settles on his bed under the covers while I do the same.

We turn towards opposite sides and get comfortable in his large bed. We aren't even touching, but I feel closer to him than I ever have before.

After a few silent moments, he whispers, "Thank you. Goodnight, Tris. Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight, Four, and sweet dreams to you too," I say, and I'm sure that he can hear the smile in my voice just as I could hear the smile in his.

* * *

><p>The next time I wake up, the clock beside Four's bed says 5:43. We have to get up and start getting ready for school in about an hour, but I don't want to leave any time soon. I don't think I'll ever want to leave.<p>

The next thing I see is an amazing tattoo of a flame on Four's side, and I gawk at it for a few minutes before I see my arm laying beside it. Why is my arm on Four?

My body finally catches up to me, and I freeze, not even daring to breathe.

We must have moved drastically in our sleep, because we were on opposite side of the bed, and now, we couldn't get any physically closer.

Four's defined chest is pressed against my side, and my right arm, in some weird but comfortable position is laying on it. His left arm must have snuck its way under my head, because I am now using it as the most comfortable pillow in the world. His left hand has made its way to comfortably rest on my hip, and I can't help but to think, just for a short, blissful moment, how good this all feels.

And then my mind and my left hand connect, and I feel where it is. My hand is directly on his back, right on his scars. I can feel the rough and smooth bumps that mark his back like a roadmap, and on its own accord, my hand starts to explore more of it, and I am helpless to stop it.

Every square inch of his back is raised with some kind of scar. And it completely kills me on the inside. On the outside too, because my face crumbles and I can't hold my tears back, thought they are silent.

What the hell happened to him? He doesn't deserve any pain, especially not this kind, not physical agony. Many of them feel just like the ones on my back, only older and much worse, so I assume that a belt was the culprit, but the person behind the belt must have been much stronger than Peter. I can't imagine, but then I do, and the tears start coming faster and faster.

I am so lost in my thoughts that I don't realize that the hand that had once lain on my hip isn't there anymore until I feel it wiping away my tears.

Oh, no. What do I say now? 'I'm sorry for whatever happened?' I hate it whenever people say that, and I'm sure he's heard it enough from the foster system.

Luckily though, I don't have to be the first to speak. "So I guess you know now,"he says shamefully.

I can't speak, so I only shake my head and focus on keeping my crying silent.

"It's okay. I'm fine now,"he says in a soothing voice.

I have to laugh a little. "Why are you comforting me? Shouldn't I be saying these things to you?" I have to force the words out, and they come out slightly garbled.

He is always protecting me; he can't even seem to stop at a moment like this.

"I'm comforted enough by your tears. I wish they would stop, but they show me how sorry you are without the meaningless words that people used to give me. They show me just how much you care, and that with someone like you, I'll be okay,"he says strongly.

There is silence between us after that until he breaks it once again. "Tobias," is the only thing he says.

"Your name?"

He nods his head. "Tobias Adam Eaton." His tone is clipped, like he is afraid and angry all at the same time.

I let out a smal gasp.

When I was fourteen years old, my parents always had the television on the news station. Usually, they would only speak of foreign affairs or the economy, but for a few months, there was a story of child abuse, and it was a _big_ story.

Marcus Eaton had been charged for the abuse of his son and the murder of his wife after torturing her for years. His son was my age at the time, and he refused to be shown on camera, but his name was Tobias.

The case was one of the worst things I had ever seen in my life, and it still haunts me to this day. After Marcus had killed his wife when Tobias was seven, he turned on Tobias.

They showed very few pictures in the court room, but the ones they did show were horrific. Most of the scars were on the back, mostly by belt, bith the leather and metal ends, but some were from burning fire pokers. **Burning fire** **pokers. **What kind of person does that to his own son?

Tobias had given things to the police if they gave him privacy, which they did. He wasn't present in court even once, and he was never called to the stand. The information he gave the police alone was enough to get him put in jail for his entire life.

Marcus had locked his son up in closets for weeks on end with little to no water and never any food. He took Tobias out of school, claiming homeschooling, just so he could beat him son within inches of his life without suspicion from teachers or students. It was the biggest case on TV for months, and the mystery of who Tobias was only stoked the fire.

In the end, Marcus Eaton was proven guilty for the brutal murder of his wife and the abuse of his son. He was sentenced to life for both charges.

A few months later, I saw another story on Marcus. He had been killed in prison. Apparently, child abusers don't last long in prison.

I remeber being glad that he was dead and wondering what had happened to Tobias.

I guess this is my answer.

I have no words to say to Four, or Tobias, I guess. Really, what is there _t__o_ say? I'm sorry? Yeah right. Like that would ever help anything.

How did he become the strong, kind, selfless boy that is here before me. How did he not absolutely _break_ after everything?

I shake my head and cup his face with my palms. My tears are gone, replaced with the fire of my rage. No one has the right to hurt their child, but Four? How could someone do that? It makes me sick.

Without a warning, Tobias wraps his arms around my body and pulls it flush against his. How is he so calm? But then I feel tears leaking down into my hair,and they aren't mine. He presses his lips to my forehead, and in that movement, I can feel his lips trembling.

But still, he is being so incredibly strong, and I am so proud of him.

"You didn't deserve that. It shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have happened to _you._ It's wrong and awful that you had to go through that, and I can't even put into words how I feel. But you know what? You grew in spite of what happened into this amazing man that I have come to know," I still feel that my words aren't enough, but by the way Tobias is looking at me, I can tell that he doesn't think that.

I am not expecting it, but I don't complain when he gently holds my face in between his hands and kisses me with so much feeling that I think I might literally explode.

His lips are soft and warm and perfect, and I can't stop myself, nor do I want to, from kissing him back. Our mouths lock together like pieces of a puzzle, and this only supports my belief that he is, hands down, the best kisser in the world. My fingers slither their way into the hair on the nape of his neck, as short as it may be, and his right hand comes back to resting on him hip, squeezing gently this time.

I can't imagine anything better than this.

He keeps the kiss chaste for me and for my fears, but he aslso pours his feelings into it. I could do this for hours.

But he pulls away before that.

I instantly miss the warmth of his lips on mine.

"Sorry,"he says, but he doesn't sound too apologetic.

I laugh a little. "That's my line," I respond jokingly.

"You should never apologize for kissing me. I promise I'll never hold it against you. My lips are so kissable that I almost wish that I could kiss me," he says with a teasing glint in his eyes.

I shake my head in return, but there is a stupid grin covering my face.

"You know, we know each other really well, but we don't actually know that much about each other," I say without thinking. I want to distract him from his memories, and I know from experience that the best way to do that is to talk about completely unrelated matters. Besides, I really do want to learn more about him.

"I know enough," he says defensively but in an amused tone. It's working already.

"What's my favorite color?"

"That's the only thing I don't know," he says with his eyebrows raised.

"Blue. Strike one. What is my favorite animal?"

"Narwhal?"

"Oh my God! You got it!"

"Really?" He sounds really excited and surprised.

"No, you dork. No one's favorite animal is a narwal," I laugh. "Dragon. Strike two. What is...what am I going to name my hypothetical daughter?"

"Dakota,"his reply is instant.

"How did you know that?" That really is what I would name a daughter if I ever have one.

"I didn't. That's just what I would name my daughter,"he says while playing with my hair. His fingers are twisting and untwisting my strands, and I feel completely at ease laying on his arm that he put back under my head.

"You ready have baby names picked out? That's cute," I say with a smile. He would be an amazing father. "What else don't I know about you, Oh Mysterious Four?"

"You didn't know that I want you to call me Tobias. Just you. It feels good to hear it from someone that isn't _him."_ I can tell that he wants to say more, but he refrains.

"Ok, Tobias."

"That's better," he breathes. And then he kisses me again.

There's no way we're going to school today. We spend the rest of the morning learning all about each other... with our voices and with our lips, and I can't help but to think that this is the best day I've had since my family died.

And it feels good.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey! Welcome back to Make it Stop:) Sorry about the even longer than usual delay between updates. I know that I always make school related excuses, but that's really what it is, I swear. I update the day I finish a chapter, and I write as quickly as I can with everything going on. I really hope it was worth the wait, and I apologize to those of you that that don't enjoy my story.<strong>

**My story was originally written for me, and I'm not to change that. I write what I would like to read, so I hope that some of you think it is worthy enough for reading.**

**I hope this chapter is long enough for y'all's liking. It is over 4,000 words, so it is one of my longer ones.**

**Thank y'all for all the reviews. As always. I love reading them, and they are what keep me going on a bad day:) For this chapter, my goal is to get to 400 reviews. I am currently at 365, thanks to all of you faithful readers, and I appreciate each and every review. I also appreciate everything that y'all have done for me. I hope you all know that.**

**If there is anything you would like to see in this story or anything that I could improve upon, please tell me. I don't mind revising chapters. Please, though, I beg of you, don't be a douche. If you aren't going to be constructive or at least polite, don't leave a review. There are some pretty mean reviews out there.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**Tris' Point of View**

Tobias and I didn't go to school. In fact, we didn't get up until well into the afternoon, and that was only because we were hungry.

Tori came in around seven to check on us, and I could tell how surprised she was at our positions; it was written all over her face that she was confused and wanted to ask what was going on, but she didn't. She just told us to behave ourselves, embarrassingly enough, and left.

"What do you want to eat?" Tobias asks me with a goofy grin on his face.

And the question drastically turns my mood from on-top-of-the-world into I-just-had-the-sex-talk-with-my-grandpa. I'm suddenly embarrassed, but that's normal. I always am when it comes to food.

Fo-Tobias must notice the immediate change in demeanor, because he drops what he is doing -digging through the pantry- to come and stand beside me.

My head is down, but soon, I feel his strong, slender fingers come to caress my chin and point my face towards to him so that I am looking directly into his eyes.

"What's the matter? You just said that you were hungry a few minutes ago," he says hopefully.

It's true; I _did_ just tell him that I was hungry, and I know for a fact that he heard my stomach rumble more than once (more like fifteen), but that doesn't change the fact that even the thought of food is something that I hate.

It isn't that I hate the taste, because, _come on,_ it's _food._ I have just avoided it for so long that I am unreasonably uncomfortable with it.

"I know," I say with a smile in hopes that he will drop the subject,"I'll get me something." My hand lands on an apple from the fruit bowl, and I move to take out a cutting board. I am flying through the cabinets trying to find it, desperate for some reason that I can't explain. I don't even need to cut it up; I could eat it whole, just like always, but I can't stand the thought of looking at him, and seeing the pity. It's always pity. My arms haven't stopped their frenzied scramble yet. It's got to be _somewhere. _I'm either really incompetent or it is amazing at hide and seek.

Before I can reach the last cabinet standing, the one that has _got_ to hold the cutting board that I am looking for so that I can cut my apple and be done with it, I feel Tobias' hand wrap around my arm.

"Tris, an apple isn't a balanced meal. How about I make some eggs and toast?" He's trying not to make this into a big deal, I can tell. He doesn't want me to run.

To tell the truth, I can't remember the last time I ate. And haven't I been unhealthy for long enough? I can't begin to count the number of times my stomach has rumbled in the past few days, and right now, for the first time in a long time, I want food. I _want_ to _eat. 'I haven't said that sentence without a 'don't' in it for a really long time,' _I note.

It may not seem like a big deal, but this is a huge step for me. It wouldn't have happened without Tobias. And I am so grateful for him.

I raise my teary eyes to meet his with a small smile on my face and give a tiny nod. He must understand how much of a victory this is for me, because the first move he makes is to wrap me in a strong hug. And I savor the feeling, scared that someday, it won't be there.

* * *

><p>"Swim Nemo! Swim to the bottom!" Tobias is screaming his head off and I am in hysterics at how much he is getting into this movie.<p>

After a freaking huge breakfast that I had to shove down my throat (but it was worth it, because I just made a step to recovery), we decided to have a Disney movie marathon. We started with Mulan, because Tobias thinks it is the 'manliest' Disney movie, and then we moved on to Cinderella, because it is my personal favorite; I used to watch it all the time with Mom and Caleb, and the very thought of them usually makes me want to cry, but those are very good memories.

And now, we have worked our way to Finding Nemo, because Tobias doesn't want to grow 'uh...you know...girl parts', as he put it, from all the princess movies.

My head has migrated to his lap, and his fingers are playing with my hair, which is the best feeling in the world.

I didn't get much sleep last night, and my eyes are really feeling it. I could just... go...to...sleep.

A few minutes after my eyes have fallen shut, I feel a pair of lips on mine and immediately reciprocate while smiling into the kiss. His lips immediatly bring energy back into me, as if I didn't lose any sleep last night (not that it wasn't worth it ten times over). I'll never get tired of kissing Tobias. His lips are warm and soft and slightly chapped all at the same time, and I can't get enough of it.

We kiss until the credits come on, not very innocently, might I add, but I notice that his hands never move from my shoulders or my hips. If this was a normal guy, he would already have tried to put his hands up my shirt (not that I have much experience).

It is when I have realizations like this that I am so glad to have him with me.

His lips break contact, and he speaks, "You want to know what Tori told me yesterday? It's going to make you pretty happy. At least I hope it will." His lips quirk into a smile that drives me crazy.

What does he mean? "What did she tell you?" I ask with my eyebrows raised in confusion, but I can barely focus on his words because I am more interested in his lips coming back to mine.

"She said that she wasn't going to adopt me," he says, and usually this would sound like awful news, but I can tell how happy he is.

"Why are you so excited about this?"

"Because she _is_ adopting _you,_ Tris. If she adopts the both of us, we would be brother and sister. I'm almost eighteen anyways, and I'll be out of the system then. I can just stay here without her adopting me. Besides, if we are brother and sister, we can't date,"and he just leaves it at that! Like I'm not absolutely giddy with excitement.

I have to make it seem like I'm not about to jump for joy, though. All I can hear in my mind is 'then we cant date.' 'Then we can't date.' Then we can't date,' just playing on repeat. "Oh, is that what you think this is? _Dating?_ Are you sure you aren't jumping to conclusions here," I try to say calmly, but I can hear the joy seeping out of my voice.

All he does is stick his tongue out at me, a gesture which I happily return.

"Yes,"he finally says. "I want to date you, Tris. That's all I've wanted for a long time."

"Are you asking me out?" You can almost hear the hope pouring out of my words.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm doing,"he says with a huge grin on his face.

"Okay," is the only response I offer.

"Really? You, Tris Prior, is going to date me? You're saying okay?"

"Okay." **(Author's note: NOT** **a** **TFIOS reference!)**

And then his mouth is on mine again and everything is perfect.

* * *

><p>Sometime around a half hour later, we finally break our mouths apart, and I am the first to speak. "We should do something."<p>

"Like what?"

"Like grocery shopping," I say. I really don't know why it popped into my head, but now it sounds like a pretty good idea. I really just need to get out of the house.

New places remind me of new foster homes no matter where it is, and I really don't need the reminder. They hardly ever leave my head anyways. The awful experiences. The terrible people I met.

Four breaks me out of my thoughts before they can get too bad. "Well, okay then. Let's go,"he says with a smile. Not many guys would be excited to go grocery shopping, and it's endearing that Tobias is.

As soon as the both of us are ready, we get into his car and are off.

* * *

><p>Super Target. My mind is blown.<p>

IT'S JUST SO BIG! Like, I want to get lost in here for forever, and it smells like popcorn, and they have Chia Pets, and I don't know what to dowithmyselfrightnow! Tobias notices my enthusiasm an lets out a low chuckle.

"I-I-I. How did I not know about this?" My voice is full of wonder and a _little_ indignance that no one told me. Why does everybody not randomly say something about Super Target in every conversation? All you have to do is drop it in there!

"It's just a normal store on a large scale. They still have soda stains on the floor and gum stick to the bottoms of the shelves," he says matter-of-factly.

"This is _not_ normal. Did you see the _Chia Pets?"_

He only laughs at me once again. "What do we need to get?"

"Let's get down to business," I whisper so quietly that Tobias won't hear.

"Before the Huns arrive," he finishes right after.

I burst out in hysterical laughter. I can barely even get my next sentence out. "How" _gasp_ "did you even" _gasp_ "hear me?"

"I knew you were going to say it. All I heard was business and I knew what you had said." He knows me so well already.

I shake my head and make my way to the milk that is past the Chia Pets, sadly.

We get milk, lettuce, eggs, cereal, bread, gum, granola bars, and of course, apples. As we are cruising through the isles, Tobias is grabbing things from the shelves and tossong them behind him to me. Or to the buggy, to be exact. Except the buggy is nowhere close to where he is throwing it. I have to move the cart at least three feet to get the grocerys to fall into it, but I think Tobias knows what he's doing and is doing it on purpose. He is taking _amusement_ in it.

I can't help the fleeting thought that we work so well together from crossing my mind.

We are in the checkout line when, in the corner of my eye, I see something. Or someone, to be exact. It was fleeting, but I could never forget _his_ face.

Eric.

* * *

><p><strong>DUN DUN DUN!<strong>

**Chapter 20, my friends! I hope you all enjoy it, because I really like this chapter. **

**I left y'all with a fricken hugenormous cliffhanger, you're welcome. Is Eric back? What is he going to do next. Leave a review of what you think is going to happen or what you think _should_ happen.**

**I'm really sorry that I took so long to update it and also that I _always_ do; I just have to work hard to make time for writing. I know that we all have school, and many of you fic writers update way more often than I do, so I apologize that I am not as fast.**

**Sorry this chapter is not as long as the ones that you are used to, but I did pack it with pretty big events.**

**I know that most of you were wondering how Tris and Tobias were going to work as siblings, so I had to clear that up a little bit.**

**Thank y'all for all the amazing reviews. They really keep me going on a bad day, and I always get excited when I see a new one. I love you guys! **

**A special thanks to Anon4 and the guest that left like five reviews. **

**If you ever want to see something new or different in the story, all you have to do is let me know.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:)**


	21. not an update

HEY GUYS!

I am so sorry that this is not an update. I'll have one soon, I swear.

I was grounded from December 12 until yesterday(almost a month and a half), hence the updateless month and a half. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to crawl out my window to go mudding in the middle of the night. And apparently, I wasn't supposed to go to the party in the middle of the night either. My parents really should find a way to lock my windows.

Those are the only two times I have ever snuck out, and my little brother ratted me out for them both.

In that month in a half, my precious internet was taken away from me. No Tumblr, no pinterest, and most importantly, no fanfics. I was a wreck for the first week. It's pretty pathetic thinking about it now. But really, you guys are such a huge part of my life, and I didn't fully understand that until my phone and kindle were taken away from me.

I had absolutely no way to write another chapter in that time (my parents took me off of all things fun), so I haven't even started the new chapter. Usually it takes me up to a month to write a single chapter, but I promise to try to get this one up in the next two weeks. I know that may not seem very difficult to many of you, but I am used to having plenty of time to make my fic exactly how I want it.

I'll try to give y'all the best chapter possible.

As always, ideas are welcome, and this time around, they might be **needed.**

**Read on and stay classy:)**

**Ty:)**


	22. Sorry, guys

Hey guys. I am so unbelievably sorry that this isn't an update...again. I just wanted to let y'all kniw that I am going to take a break from this story for a little while. I've been trying to write th newest chapter since I got my Kindle back, but I just can't seem to do it. I still have ideas, but my mind just isn't working with me.

I am by no means giving up on Make it Stop. I'll be back and I will finish strong, I swear. If I wrote a new chapter, I would be forcing myself, and it wouldn't be very good because of that. And that is not what I want at all.

I am so extremely sorry that I made y'all wait so long just to tell y'all that I won't update for a while. Please forgive me.

If you have any ideas that are just amazing, please share them with me. They might give me the inspiration to start back up writing sooner.

Please don't be upset. This isn't the end of Make it Stop, I promise.

As always,

Read on and stay classy

Ty


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